Jun Magsaysay must prevent a whitewash of the Basilan debacle

Normally, this writer would emit a loud guffaw at the idea of the Senate or House investigating anything "in aid of legislation." Too many of these inquisitions in the past have been political circuses, fishing expeditions, or even ill-disguised extortion or persecution capers.

In the case of the announced plan of Senator Ramon Magsaysay Jr., as potential chairman of the Senate committee on national defense, to inquire into the shocking allegations of Lamitan town’s Catholic priest, I’d say: "Go ahead Jun – to prevent a whitewash!" The priest, Father Cirilo Nacorda, had asserted that a Brigadier General no less, a colonel, a major and two captains had gotten a hefty pay-off for enabling the trapped Abu Sayyaf renegades to escape a military cordon which had penned them up in the Lamitan hospital and church compound – and, worse, take their captives (which included two Americans) along with them as they absconded.

The ranking officer "named", Brig. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, has angrily threatened to sue Father Nacorda for libel. The colonel pinpointed, Col. Jovenal Narcise, former 103rd Brigade commander, whose troops were directly involved in the misadventure, is nowhere to be found. (Perhaps he’s in America, hunting for more secret bank accounts belonging to Senator Panfilo Lacson, which seems to be the main military and police endeavor these days). The other three fingered by the irate parish priest are not as vocal as their general.

The general was said to have sputtered in indignation that he couldn’t have been involved because he couldn’t even get in touch with Col. Narcise and the men in that caper on his cellphone. Why? Was it a "dead zone"? It’s interesting to note that our officers in the field, in the heat of battle, coordinate with each other by cellphone! What about getting more sophisticated "fail-safe" radio equipment? What if those cellphones register "low bat", or go blank with the usual text explanation: "All networks are busy"? Are we losing men in combat or losing battles in Mindanao because the officers’ cellphones are not working?

What a way to run a war!

Some wiseguy will probably come up with the witty observation that certain commandos used cellphones when "under cover" behind Iraqi lines in "Desert Storm". But that’s because Saddam Insane was tuned in to the wrong frequency.

In any event, I keep on thinking: why should the priest lie? Where would that get him? More likely a mysterious bullet in the back.

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I called Jun Magsaysay the "potential" chairman of the Senate defense committee because, up to now, the Senate has distressingly not formed any committees or even "organized" itself to do any work. After a monumental filibuster on the part of Senator Serge Osmeña III in which he talked his head off to delay proceedings (the only thing he refrained from was having sex on the Senate floor), the opposition solons walked out. Since the Senate is almost evenly divided, thus the upper chamber remains the proverbial "House Divided."

Will it be a grudge fight to the finish between Serge and his bête noir, Senate President Franklin Drilon? Or will matters be decided today, with the proper clucking noises of reconciliation and some compromises? The Senate, sadly enough, was supposed to be a chamber composed of elders, wiser men and women elected at large to form a body to restrain the frolics, frivolities and rashness of a "younger" House of Representatives, the so-called lower house. Now, quite obviously, it’s filled with clones of Dennis the Menace and Charlie "Good Grief" Brown. Since the nation’s problems are so grave and pressing that we haven’t got time for "Comedy Hour", the Senate had better get its act together.

You’d think they were all busy moonlighting, instead, such as signing up to advertise some shampoo, soap – or detergent. Remember when former Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado was a Senator? He was more famous for being the television "face" (and mouth) for a brand of toothpaste. Thus, Orly became known as "The Pepsodent Kid." Look what happened to Pepsodent. For that matter, look at what happened to Orly.

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I’m afraid that unless Senator Magsaysay Jr. demonstrates the toughness and stubborn persistence that characterized his late father, the beloved President Monching Magsaysay, he won’t get to the bottom of things in Mindanao.

They’ll do what older Americans used to call "a snow job" on him. The military will meet him with military fanfares, marching bands, pretty girls with garlands, and smiling generals, majors and captains, ready to present charts and "tactical figures" illustrating that our armed forces are keen, honest, courageous, and doing a great job in smashing the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan.

It’s not beyond belief that they’ll even have "evidence" showing that Father Nacorda is the one who’s in cahoots with Commander Abu Sabaya and the evil Abu Sayyaf. Perhaps even "film" portraying the priest indulging in a bizarre carnal act. With computers, you can fake almost anything. In Tokyo some years ago, at the science center of a famous electronic giant, technicians demonstrated to me how they could "produce" a film showing the Holy Father indulging in more than prayer with Mother Teresa. Please forgive the impious images one is sometimes compelled to draw to emphasize a point.

Manufacturing such stuff is known in military parlance, as you already know, by the label of "psychological warfare."

Already the "whitewash" is in progress. There’s a report published in a newspaper yesterday to the effect that "an Abu Sayyaf" cadre had revealed that allegations linking top Armed Forces brass to the bandit group were only part of a "grand design" to discredit the military and incite Muslims more sympathy and support towards the rebels. The eager informant identified himself as a certain "Abu Nidal", and called himself "an Abu Sayyaf propagandist". Abu Nidal, when he contacted the military kuno to leak this "information", was quoted as saying it was "a goodwill gesture", since he wanted to surrender to the government.

Sanamagan! How timely was the surprise appearance of the talkative Abu Nidal! (Do they think we were born yesterday? On second thought, most of us act like we were born yesterday. The gullible public seems willing to swallow even the most outlandish yarns.)

Already, AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Diomedio F. Villanueva, who used to be Southcom commander himself in Mindanao, is dismissing the talk about collusion between some officers and the Abus in Basilan and Mindanao itself as nonsense. Even Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto "Bobby" Tiglao, who used to be a crackerjack journalist in his former "life", is declaring that an investigation by the AFP Inspector General showed no signs of such collaboration.

Neither, Tiglao averred, was there any sign of "demoralization" among our troops in Basilan. He went as far as to assail the accusations of a military-Abu conspiracy made by Father Nacorda as "wild rumors".

When millions of pesos are involved, I ask you, how "wild" can you get? Sorry, Bobby, but the reputation of some – dare I say "many" – of our armed forces and police officers with regard to the handling of cash, and even other endeavors like drug trafficking, smuggling, jueteng "protection" etc. is not the most sterling and credible in the world.

It’s not just Father Nacorda but quite a number of others who’ve been saying that there’s much "rot" in our military in Basilan and Mindanao. There are indeed too many temptations, not merely posed by the Abus but also other Moro rebel groups apparently flush with cash, either from the fantastic ransoms they’ve been collecting, or – credible reports say – from funds and weaponry provided by the multimillionaire sponsor of Islamic terrorism, Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan. Remember that bin Laden was one of the original sponsors and supporters of the slain founder of the Abus, Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, who had fought alongside him and "bomb" terrorist Ramzi Youssef in the Afghan war against the Russians.

How then can we win in Basilan? By facing the truth and getting rid of the trash in our embattled armed forces and PNP. Many brave soldiers and policemen have sacrificed their lives (and others their limbs) on the fierce Mindanao frontier. They fought and died courageously and patriotically in fulfillment of their mission and their duty to their country.

Those who "sell out" to the enemy betray these brave men just as brazenly as if they had fired a treacherous bullet into their backs. That such rats exist can only be a source of shame.

And, by the way, whenever our soldiers clash with the Abus and "some hostages" are rescued, how come we never see photographs of any dead Abu Sayyaf? Are our men really such poor shots?

I like to believe that we are a nation on the razor’s edge, the perilous but exciting brink between disaster and some great, surprising destiny which awaits our people. Disaster, alas, we richly deserve. A better destiny, a leap from failure to success? That we will still have to earn. What we do about Basilan and the rest of Mindanao in the weeks to come may decide which way we’ll go.

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THE ROVING EYE . . . Commissioner Rex Borra of the Commission on Elections, a Comelec veteran with 30 years’ experience in the poll body having risen from the ranks, is the man in charge of holding tomorrow’s elections in Mindanao to determine whether any other cities and provinces wish to join an "expanded" Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). So, why has another Comelec Commissioner, the controversial Luzviminda Tancangco, gone charging off to Mindanao without authorization from the poll body, claiming that she is going to "observe" the balloting? In fact, when Tancangco asked for P171,000 to fund her trip to Mindanao, her request was curtly turned down by Chairman Alfredo Benipayo who said she had no business going there. She went anyway, allegedly claiming she would ask for reimbursement afterwards. Why such eagerness to get "involved" in the Mindanao voting when she’s not even from there? . . . This goes under the heading of "I WISH I COULD KICK THE GUY" Department. In yesterday’s column, I correctly named the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor as Rafael Buenaventura. When I mentioned the BSP Governor later in "The Roving Eye" section, I merely wrote "BSP Gov. Buenaventura." Some wiseguy editor or proofreader inserted the name "Cesar" making me look silly. Since I’m silly enough in person without any help from somebody else, this glitch was disgusting. Susmariosep! Once and for all, let me stress that Cesar Buenaventura is BSP head Rafael "Paeng" Buenaventura’s older brother . . . In an earlier column, I had written, "the revered Mahatma Gandhi". What came out in print was "the reserved Mahatma Gandhi." The great Indian leader was never reserved. He spoke out his mind fearlessly, particularly when leading the satyagraha movement seeking independence from the British Raj . . . In still another column, I quoted Professor Robert S. Wistrich’s description of Nazi Reichsfuhrer and butcher Heinrich Himmler, who headed Hitler’s dreaded Waffen SS, the Gestapo, and organized the "Final Solution" in which six million Jews were exterminated along with millions of Slavs and gypsies from Poland, Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe. Wistrich had said that Himmler was "a small, diffident man of pedantic demeanor and quiet, unemotional gestures." What came out in print was that Himmler was " small, different man . . ." Gee whiz! Incidentally, do you want to know what happened to the once all-powerful Himmler? He was captured by British troops as Germany fell apart in 1945, but managed to commit suicide by swallowing a poison vial which he had concealed in his mouth before he could be brought to trial. Good riddance, I’d say. Many Nazis, sad to say, successfully fled to South America and elsewhere, or were saved by being enlisted by the Americans and, for that matter, the Russians in their own postwar missile programs. John F. Kennedy was right when he said: "Life is not fair." His own death proved that.