Saying ‘no coup’ does not mean there’s no restiveness in the ranks

There you go. The stonewalling on the part of the United States Embassy – stubbornly citing the Visiting Forces Agreement in refusing to hand over four accused US Marines to Philippine government custody while the Subic "rape" case is pending – has led to the Legislative Oversight Committee in Congress considering the scrapping of the VFA.

This move is not altogether a bad thing for the Philippines since it could lead to a re-negotiation of the VFA deal to eliminate the onerous clause it contains and contemplate other amendments.

As far as I’m concerned, the one-sided VFA merely promotes emotional mischief which could be sparked into an unwanted wave of anti-Americanism. The Americans can, of course, huff and puff, and petulantly declare: "If you don’t want us, we’re out of here!" Of course they could. Hubris is one of their superpower flaws, which is why, sadly, they’re taking a shellacking in Iraq from bearded or scruffily unshaven suicide-bombers and other hostile elements. I still think they did the right thing in toppling Saddam Insane, although he’s still barking and apparently "terrified" the judge hearing his trial into resigning. Having given the Iraqis, fractious though they are today (on the brink of civil war? Who knows?), a chance to get their act together, perhaps they ought to devise an exit strategy. Damned if they stay, I say, damned if they go; there is no graceful exit in prospect. But there’s a US election looming and I see Vietnam Redux on the horizon, with the politicians scurrying for cover.

In any event, it’s unfortunate that things have degenerated here into an emotional impasse.

The VFA, truth to tell, is faulty. It was pushed through by an eager President Joseph "Erap" Estrada and his friends in the Senate (even though Erap had been one of the 12 Senators who kicked out the US bases a few years before). In vain, then Senator Teofisto "Tito" Guingona had argued against that giveaway of custody clause inserted by the Americans. Now the mistake of our having conceded too much is coming home to roost. Remember the old Mother Goose tale about "for want of a horse-shoe nail the battle was lost"? Today’s cyber-generation never heard of it, but that childhood story of their grandparents says it all.

Since the US Senate never ratified that faulty VFA, it turns out it’s not a treaty, but just an agreement, readily abrogated by our own Senate and Congress who one-sidedly approved it. I hope instead of being junked completely, it can be "repaired" and amended.

A couple of weeks ago, I already said in this corner that the VFA ought to be amended to contain a limitation clause. Let’s face it, those 300 US troops, for instance, now engaged with their Philippine army counterparts in the annual "Balance Piston 06-02" war games in Cotabato are here on serious military detail from their base in Fort Louis, Washington state, USA. They’re not here on holiday or R & R.

A new VFA arrangement must state that while in our country for such maneuvers like Balikatan, etc., all participating US personnel must be restricted to base, to camp, or to the scene of joint operations. Thus they are protected by the VFA. If they go "outside" on "pass" or leisure activities, they immediately fall under the jurisdiction and immediate control of our Philippine authorities, period.

That’s the way it should be. All armies all over the world are the same, I kid thee not, and I’ve covered a few of them in action. Soldiers – Sus, civilians, too – can get rowdy and commit mayhem and other crimes when let loose. If any foreign soldiers do so within our territory, they simply will have to answer to our laws.

I think the situation can be repaired without hysterics or excessive histrionics. The Philippines and the US are longtime friends, and while to our shame we flunked out in Iraq, we have many times in the past stood shoulder-to-shoulder in desperate places.

But if such a relationship is to endure, and not shrivel up or deteriorate into hostility, it must be one of mutual pride, give-and-take, and fair play.

In the cruel geopolitics of this spinning planet, old friends need each other more than ever. There are too many false friends and new enemies.

* * *

Yesterday, I proposed that GMA and our government do something dramatic and unexpected – namely program the one-time sum of P100 billion to outfit, beef up and modernize our armed forces (where will we get that enormous sum? If there’s a will, there’s a way!)

If you’ve recovered from the shock of such a proposal, or – to look at the other side – haven’t died from laughing, this is the time for me to insert a caveat. Don’t let the generals get their hands on that money!

The President, and the Secretary of National Defense, and the service chiefs must plan what gets priority judiciously before grabbing things off the shelf like you tend to do in a supermarket, or warehouse "sale" or during a Midnight Madness.

Even service chiefs are tempted by the availability of funds. One of them has provoked grumbling from his junior officers by pocketing the funds (from "savings"?) doled out by the AFP chief of staff which, in military jargon, is normally defined as "for the boys." The Big Boy, rumor has it, takes that to mean singular, not plural. By golly: for want of a nail the battle was lost, remember?

The other day, too, I remarked that I didn’t scent any mutiny or coup in immediate prospect. Not being deaf and blind, I cannot say this means that there’s no current "recruitment" being undertaken by provocateurs and would-be military messiahs.

These instigators have been working through all military camps, not to mention the Philippine Military Academy itself, where a number of young officers and cadets still nurse an "Oakwood Mutiny" complex. It would be wise of La Presidenta, concurrently commander-in-chief, not to be complacent. There are many in the ranks and the officer corps who are restive and can be cozened or stirred up by rabble rousers among them, or from retired military – among them, by the way, a former RAM stalwart. I say no more, except to say that among the issues is continuing corruption. This corruption leads to neglect of the basics required for survival and combat of our men in the field.

At this point, I remember the earnest and gallant former Army Captain, Rene Jarque, who died in Jakarta last August, perhaps of a broken heart. Our friend Rene, a son of Gen. Raymundo Jarque (who had joined the New People’s Army in disgust in early October 1995 – also on the issue of political corruption and his harassment by vengeful enemies) died young – he would have turned only 41 on his next birthday, October 14. Captain Jarque (West Point 1986) had, in fact, written the first "Scout Ranger Handbook", co-authoring it with now Lt. Col. Glen Paje, former commander of the 4th Scout Ranger Battalion.

Rene, caught by the fall-out from his dad’s unexpected defection, resolutely kept on batting for urgent reform in the armed forces. An eloquent writer, Jarque had railed against corruption and unprofessionalism in the military in the Army Journal and Cavalier, which he edited. He was finally told to shut up. One of the first to expose such slimy practices as "conversion" (the manner in which funds went astray through ghost payments and deliveries), he ultimately quit the military in 1998, mourning the armed forces as "a crumbling old house." In a paper he published in 2003, Rene declared: "What is required is a total overhaul. No amount of repainting and replastering of walls or repairing . . . will make it stronger (because) the pillars and foundations are weak."

What have GMA and her generals done to strengthen those pillars and lay new foundations – to reform and reconstruct the house which Jarque in his anguish had decried as "crumbling"? This is the challenge which must be faced now – not when the grumbling has escalated into a roar.

This is a land of too many coup-coup rumors. But this does not mean that any whisper on the wind can be ignored or dismissed out of hand.

* * *

The great news of the day is that there’s hope in our armed forces owing to the leadership that’s coming to fore. (Forgive this grizzled journeyman journalist for his old-fashioned expressions). It was cause for celebration that one of our most valiant warriors, Medal of Valor holder Colonel Arthur Ortiz has been given command of the Special Forces Regiment, based in Fort Magsaysay in Laur, Nueva Ecija.

The ceremony installing Ortiz, who’s so identified with the Medal of Valor he won in combat that most of the officers and men in the ranks address him with the nickname of "Valor", took place only the other day. The promotion indicates that Ortiz will soon get his "star" as Brigadier General, a rank so long delayed and so long deserved.

What makes the recognition of Art Ortiz so significant is that he was one of the most aggressive fighters for "reform" in the military, for instance leading a protest by several Medal of Valor holders against the giving of that rare and much-coveted decoration to two men they deemed unworthy. (The other Medal of Valor holders didn’t joint the protest, because they had merited the honor by dying courageously in action). To her credit, the President met with Ortiz and other young officers to listen to their complaints, which elicited from them their pledge of loyalty to their Constitutional commander. Defense Secretary Nonong Cruz also conferred with them separately and vowed to draw up procedures for a true evaluation of prospective honorees.

The Medal of Valor, if you’ll recall, is the most prestigious of all military decorations, awarded for "conspicuous acts of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty and in total disregard of personal safety." (It is the equivalent of the US Congressional Medal of Honor).

Indeed, even the President of our Republic must, by tradition, salute the medal and its wearer.

Ortiz has assumed command of one of the nation’s two most elite Army units. The other one is the First Scout Ranger Regiment, commanded, by the way, by our friend, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim – a West Pointer, and a former Putschist who was one of our fellow negotiators at Oakwood in July 2003. It was both ironic and salutary that Danny Lim, who had been one of the commanders of the Scout Ranger mutineers who occupied Makati’s financial district for one week during the RAM-SFP-YOU coup attempt in 1989, should be in the group to successfully urge the Oakwood Magdalo rebels to surrender. I had asked Danny during the negotiations how he felt being on the government side this time, and he grinned and replied, "weird." I say again, he’s a great soldier.

Both Ortiz’s Special Forces Regiment and the First Scout Ranger Regiment under Lim belong to the Special Operations Command (SOCOM) and are the battering ram of our AFP in every combat operation. Each has approximately 1,500 men (in 9 companies), all superbly trained.

Col. Ortiz got his Medal in 1990, for a feat he accomplished in Murcia, Negros Oriental. Under cover of darkness, he led his troops through a grueling 11-hour cross-country march, traversing steep, heavily-forested slopes, sugarcane fields, and finally scaling a 1,000 foot high ravine to launch a surprise attack on 300 well-armed New People’s Army guerrillas. In a two-hour gunbattle, his 606th Company killed 84 NPAs, captured eight, wounded 105 and recovered 33 firearms. This deed remains unsurpassed in the armed forces’ long counter-insurgency campaign against the CPP/NPA.

In this hour, we truly need men of valor like Ortiz – and at last he’s been given the Regiment with which to fight. Go get ‘em Art! That nickname "Valor" was surely not given you in vain.