If we even think of "negotiating" with the hoodlum-kidnappers (as theyve obviously compelled their American hostages to plead, so well get all weak-kneed and mushy about it), well suffer the same humiliation all over again. The Abus, flush with the ransom money they collected (while the Estrada government was bleating it wasnt "talking ransom"), are doing a repeat number grab a few whites, they sneer, and the Manila government will cave in and crawl, begging them to release their captives unharmed.
The present incident is the bitter fruit of our supine and toothless policy with regard to last years Sipadan "hostages" the insolent Abu chieftains got away with the cash, we ended up with crud on our faces, while Libyas meddling strongman Muammar Ghadaffi waltzed off with the credit and the applause of the Germans and the French. (And, for Petes sake, dont bring back Robert Aventajado).
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo must learn from the pratfall of her ill-starred predecessor and refuse to dicker, no matter what, with the arrogant Abu Sayyaf pirates. Of course, we must make every effort to locate and rescue the captives, but we must never again permit those ruthless bandits (as they did in the past) to use them as "shields" and bargaining chips. It sounds heartless, Im sorry, but its the only way. Give em the gun. As the late Ramon Magsaysay repeatedly declared when he fought and crushed the Communist Huk Movement: Find em, fool em, fight em, finish em!
As a matter of fact, what happened to the "all-out war" Commander-in-Chief GMA launched against the Abus last April in Sulu ("Pupulbusin ko sila!" she had vowed). She had dispatched Armed Forces Chief of Staff Diomedio Villanueva, no less, to "get" that cheeky Abu Commander Abu Sabaya, in answer to his brag that he would send her then hostaged American Jeffrey Schillings head as a birthday gift. GMAs wrath was a wonder to behold. Her Army troops, Marines, and PNP, indeed, had plucked Schilling safely out of the enemys lair; but now, Commander Abu Sabaya, uncaught and unchastened, has grabbed himself three more Americans. The late General Douglas MacArthur of "I shall return" vintage, in his second most famous statement, asserted: "There is no substitute for victory." We can never claim "victory" unless we land Abu Sabaya, Khadaffi Janjalani (brother of the Abus slain founder, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani), and the other Abu war-chiefs. They got away from the armed forces, quite obviously, because now theyre the ones holding the "new" hostages from Palawan.
And where, oh where, is that other high-profile villain, Commander "Robot" alias Ghalib Andang? Will he surface, too, grinning merrily and thumbing his dirty nose at the government?
Never mind the tourists! Of course well miss them, their happy smiles, and most of all their happily-dispensed dollars and other valuta. The real blow is not to our international image and prestige (shucks, there are bloody incidents everywhere, suicide bombs and firefights in Israel and Palestine, riots in Oldham, England, etc.) What dismays me is the breakdown of law and order, and respect for authority and government enforcement in our country.
Weve just had the Commission on Elections bungle the elections (the kuro-kuro is that certain Comelec commissioners deliberately sabotaged the process, a suspicion that plays well in the current climate of paranoia and discontent). Weve had politicians shooting directly at each other. Weve had the Communist New Peoples Army (NPA) slaughtering candidates, while were blissfully talking "peace" with them in faraway Oslo. Weve seen Moro rebels and bandits on the rampage, while our government has been trying to strike a peace deal with them in Kuala Lumpur.
If the government now looks punch-drunk, its because the punches are coming at the Arroyo administration not merely from La Glorias enemies but, with even worse venom, from her own self-proclaimed "friends" and supporters. The vociferous Bayan Muna attacks her for being too "kind" to Estrada, the Erap-supporters assail her for being "harsh" on the same ex-President, her Civil Society blowhards snarl that if GMA insists on pushing through the "power bill", theyll mount another People Power against her. Sanamagan! What do we have here? The rule of the mob? After EDSA DOS, we had a reverse EDSA TRES. Now those snobs and nabobs (whom GMA thought were on her side) are huffing and puffing that theyll stage EDSA KUWATRO against the administration, too?
Were beginning to look worse than Indonesia and, as Gus Dur himself would put it (as he plays his last "blind mans bluff"), that would be saying a lot!
The Abu gang came out of the sea aboard a swift banca equipped with three high-speed outboard motors. The bandits were attired in Army uniforms to mislead the unsuspecting security guards who, caught by surprise, surrendered without a fight. They got away with 20 hostages (those who were in the seaside cottages on stilts), and would have taken more but their "boat" could only accommodate 20 prisoners along with the Abu raiders themselves.
Why couldnt the Navy, the Coast Guard and the Air Force catch them? Youve got the answer even before the question is asked: Our Navy doesnt have fast patrol and pursuit craft, even less our leaky Coast Guard. I heard some radio commentators carping about the PAF. Why couldnt even our planes overhaul the fleeing kidnappers? The radio broadcasters cracked: "Doesnt the Air Force have gasoline for its aircraft?" You bet. No gasoline. Even worse than that, alas no insult intended to our intrepid and gallant airmen no airplanes.
Susmariosep! We call ourselves a Republic, yet we force our soldiers to go into combat with worn-out weapons and tin-can armored cars, we defend our archipelago of 7,100 islands with a Navy that counts mostly relics from the mothball fleet of the United States and second-hand "peacock" class vessels bought from Hong Kong, we humiliate our aviators by giving them only ancient OV-10 Broncos, gunless S-211s, a few obsolete F-5s, and overworked helicopters.
The Abus, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, NPA, and other troublemakers know all these and give us the runaround. That bandit "banca" easily sped away from any Naval or Coast Guard vessel (if any were in the vicinity) at over 25 knots! The "enemy" knows, full well, our armed forces lack of response capability.
What happened to the P7.8 billion AFP "modernization" fund paid to the Ramos administration by the real estate buyers of the Fort Bonifacio property? Perhaps ex-President Fidel V. Ramos, if hes an ally of President Arroyo, will finally help her find it and USE IT!
Im supposed to be on "leave" from The STAR. But I had to come out today with this single column, then its back to my short vacation. But I felt I had to say: Mrs. President, go do your job, and, as the US Navy hero Farragut declared: "Damn the torpedoes!" This is a crisis and we need heroes and heroines. In this solemn hour.
Ill say it again. The President has the loneliest job in the country. And she must be lonely. She must not be the smiling "Madam Gloria", friendly to everybody, but must be an unrelenting leader who has no friends, relatives or cronies. (Erap, alas, for all his charms, had too many of each.)
Stop listening to those who claim they supported you, who "rallied" at EDSA DOS and allegedly put you in office, who backstop you kuno in the military or police! Push away the solicitous advice of former Presidents, too, whether theyre your idols, pals, or your enemies. Youre alone up there on the peak of Mount Olympus. Heed only your instincts and the voice of God through your own conscience. Easier said than done, its admitted: But you asked for the job and the Filipino people (and Fate, dont forget) gave it to you.
As for peace and order: Spare no one. Demolish the warlord armies. Go after the pirates, and the local politicians (theyre the ones who stir up trouble and subversion in Mindanao). It is better to be feared, though this may sound cruel and callous, than loved. Love dies. Fear lasts. The most important thing is that the evil and conniving should fear the remorseless hand of justice.
I saw the President in that interview over Cable News Network (CNN). When asked what was her aim, she disappointingly advanced the motherhood statement: "To fight poverty." Every Chief Executive, I remember, pledged to fight po-verty, but our people became poorer than ever before. (Some big shots defeated their own "poverty", of course, and became very wealthy). The idea is to fight ignorance. The President must, first and foremost, strive to educate our people. It is ignorance, gullibility and the propensity to be cozened, bribed, or cowed by force that keep our people in servitude and chains. An educated citizenry knows its rights and duties, and therefore forges forward to prosperity.
There is no magic formula. GMA must acquire the magic, however, of leadership, toughness, courage, determination, and persistence. What is she today? Is she the Biblical "reed shaken in the wind", or a pillar of flame leading us resolutely through the darkness to the Promised Land?
Im a hopeless romantic, perhaps. But God bestows, I firmly believe, on leaders who dare the wisdom, fortitude and abi-lity to inspire that will guide them to the summit, surrounded by a host of mighty Angels for their protection. Manuel Quezon, for all his faults and conceits, had such a gift, as had Ramon Magsaysay, although he didnt have enough time (before his death on a mountaintop in Cebu) to complete his pilgrimage.
GMA has been given a magnificent challenge. Let her forget the year 2004. To be a great President in the next two years, and in that period alone, is all that matters. She must not seek any reward or gratitude for her stewardship of the highest position within the gift of the Filipino nation. Attaining the Presidency is, by itself, the guerdon she has already gained. Let her, then, acquit herself nobly and well in that sacred trust.
This is a moment in history that may never come for her again.