Some soul-searching despite the euphoria

It certainly was welcome news to President GMA that, for all the battering she’s been getting lately, 54.9 percent of respondents in an August 6 to 9 survey were "satis-fied" with her performance, a sharp upturn from the 42 percent registered in an earlier poll conducted May 11 to June 3.

The fact that the survey was undertaken by the Social Weather Stations (SWS), which has considerable credibility, is significant – never mind, as some nitpickers keep on interjecting, if the public never heard of the survey’s sponsors, the Crusade for a Better Philippines.

What, indeed, if the Crusade was really just a front to enable the administration to get a survey conducted incognito? What matters is whether or not the SWS can be dismissed as capable of "selling out". Mahar Mangahas, we’re sure, would never consent to having his firm’s reputation tarnished in this manner.

So, GMA can bask all she wishes in this timely boost to her morale. What’s dangerous, on the other hand, is that she may take the cheerful new statistics to mean that the people approve of even some of the dubious things she has been doing. It’s important, despite the euphoric high she’s experiencing to take one step back and do some quiet soul-searching.

But, hey: Mrs. President – enjoy.

* * *

Coming more than a year after the inquiry was begun, it was almost a surprise yesterday to learn that the Senate committee on national defense is formalizing a draft report which recommends the court martial of three Army officers for the fiasco in Lamitan town, Basilan, which enabled the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers to escape in spite of the fact that they had been ringed overnight by a cordon of government troops.

Indeed, if the renegades, who had abducted 20 hostages from the Palawan beach resort of Dos Palmas on May 27, 2001 had been captured or killed in Lamitan in that June 2001 encirclement, who knows, Martin Burnham and Ediborah Yap might have been alive today. One thing is certain: The Burnhams and Yap had to suffer more than a year of cruel captivity, undergoing torture and privation as an offshoot of that blunder. The awful truth is that the Abus not merely got away themselves, but blithely managed to take their victims along with them – minus the mysteriously released business tycoon Reghis Romero, a lady with him and her little boy – while adding one more hostage, nurse Ediborah Yap.

Worst of all, the Abu getaway, their subsequent year of hit-and-run tactics, and their insolent leading the military on a merry chase cost additional lives, including those of soldiers, militiamen and civilians and humiliated our government and our nation all over the world.

The Defense Committee Chairman, Senator Ramon "Jun" Magsaysay, stated yesterday on television that he expected the 18 members of his committee to approve and sign at least 85 percent of the draft report. He added that the Senate committee had been ready with its conclusions as early as last December, but opposition Senators (whom he persisted in calling "minority members") kept on requesting leeway to summon and introduce more and more witnesses.

Asked why the Senate and House defense committees were not issuing a joint report, the solon – the son of the late President Magsaysay, whose name he bears – replied that the House of Representatives had conducted its own investigation and would have its own report.

* * *

The draft report becomes official only after it has been signed by the majority of the committee, but Magsaysay has already sounded out, he said, most of the Senators concerned and the Senate will recommend the court martial of Maj. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, Col. Juvenal Narcise, and Major Eliseo Campued.

Since a Senate committee inquiry is supposed to be "in aid of legislation", I’m not sure how the report can be mandatory on the Armed Forces to conduct the above-mentioned court-martial. As a matter of fact, not only was General Dominguez not censured by his military superiors or the Department of National Defense in the aftermath of the June 2 "escape", but was even promoted to two-star rank.

One thing is clear. The strangeness of the Abu Sayyaf’s escape, the mysterious manner in which Romero and company waltzed to freedom while the rest of the captives could not, and the way in which the alleged "cordon of steel" turned out to be porous led to a loss of confidence by the Basilan folk in our military. The revelations of Lamitan’s outraged parish priest, Father Cirilo A. Nacorda of St. Peter’s Parish were perfectly credible – while the protestations and explanations of our military officers were the exact opposite. (Nacorda was interviewed by the Senators, along with 26 other Basilan residents.)

As a correspondent who covered a few wars, I can only say that what occurred that June 1 to 3, 2001, in Lamitan is baffling and incomprehensible unless, indeed, there was villainy involved. The local folk and the general public will probably agree with the Senate committee’s draft (what we’ve glimpsed of it) once it is published in its final form. What remains a source of alarm is the "clubby" manner in which the military establishment closed ranks to protect the, er, "suspects".

The committee, on the other hand, praised the bravery and conduct of the soldiers who took part in that operation, it’s important to qualify. Not so the conduct of their officers.

In the light of that "blunder" in Lamitan and the perception that a big amount of money changed hands, it’s no wonder the Basilan residents welcomed the arrival of the American Special Forces "trainers" and US support personnel. It’s not flattering to our AFP’s self-esteem, but the Basilan folk obviously trusted them more than they did our own military.

This is further evidenced by the finding in the latest SWS that 67 percent of the respondents nationwide believe that boosting the RP-US relations is beneficial to both countries.

* * *

In the meantime, I’m intrigued by the report by Bradley Graham of The Washington Post, datelined Washington DC which says Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes has disclosed an "agreement in principle" reached with US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. The Philippine and American defense leaders, Reyes averred, plan to establish "a senior civilian group for coordinating military policy, further strengthening a Pacific alliance that has gained prominence in the Bush administration’s global war on terrorism."

The Post asserted that "along with a new five-year plan for stepped-up US military assistance . . . the creation of the policy group is intended to ensure closer contact between civilian decision-makers in both military establishments." That quote was attributed to Reyes.

Who are these so-called "civilian decision-makers"? Do they include President GMA and President Bush – and, indubitably, Rumsfeld and Reyes? Sus, it almost rhymes, like R & R. What about G, for Roilo Golez, our National Security Adviser? On this trip, Reyes put one over Roy. If you’ll recall, when Golez met with Rumsfeld in the Pentagon a week ago, Rumsfeld had received him in shirt-sleeves. Last Tuesday, Rumsfeld greeted Reyes with an "honor cordon" on the riverside steps of the Pentagon. You know, with the salute of a military guard of honor and accompanying fanfare.

The Washington Post revealed that "over the next year, US military instructors are slated to return to train two Light Reaction Companies – elite units that specialize in hostage rescues and other advanced tactical operations."

This item was already mentioned in this corner a week and a half ago. What the Post dispatch did not say was when the Philippine and American governments had agreed to sign that much-publicized Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) which has generated so much controversy – and unnecessary posturing, if you ask me.

Let’s have a peek at what it contains before it’s signed so we can have done with all the speculation and huffing and puffing that have created a weird climate of near-hysteria around the would-be arrangement.

Without such an MLSA, we’ve been told, the US won’t be able to underwrite the issuance to each Filipino soldier in the contemplated Light Reaction Companies the modern equipment required: in sum, P2 million per man in the form of combat helmet, radio, night-vision goggles, kevlar body armor, and all the geegaws and gadgets designed for the waging of modern war.

All that stuff sounds delightful. It helps. But there’s no substitute for accurate marksmanship. You admittedly may need all that state-of-the-art gadgetry and GPS linkage to track down the enemy, but once you’ve found him, you’ll still have to go get him the old-fashioned way.