Quibbling with trivia

An official of the Department of National Defense (DND) is taking up the cudgels for his embattled boss, Secretary Voltaire Gazmin over the stinging criticisms dished out against him in Commonsense last Monday. Apparently smarting over perceived slight on their leader, the DND official spokesperson wrote that day a two-page Letter to the Editor addressed to our Editor-in-chief who in turn gave it to me as the columnist concerned.

It was sent by Director Peter Paul Galvez who signed with so many typical military abbreviations/acronyms after his name, to wit:  MD, MNSA, CESE, like a soup alphabet. I had to ask our DND reporter to elucidate on the meaning of these titles after his name. MD stood for doctor of medicine; MNSA is Master in National Security Administration; CESE is Career Executive Service Eligible.

Actually, I met and had a brief chat with Dr. Galvez during a reception hosted by the Chinese Embassy about two months ago. He left a good impression that he is very able and effective communicator for the Defense Department though he is a doctor of medicine by profession.

For a brief background, the Commonsense column that day scored Gazmin for declaring as “mission accomplished” already the joint military-police operations to end the 20-day-old Zamboanga siege. His declaration “Mission accomplished” was a headline story in Philippine Daily Inquirer last Saturday (Sept. 28) in quotation marks. Please take note of the date as this is crucial to this rejoinder.

As stated in that news story, the headline “Mission accomplished” was apparently taken from an exclusive interview with Gazmin a day after the military operations already rescued the last remaining hostages taken by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) last September 9 since their sneak attack in Zamboanga City.

 It was raised in my column that Gazmin was jumping the gun to declare mission accomplished in supposedly being able to put an end to the latest mis-adventure by erstwhile MNLF chairman Nur Misuari. Loyalist troopers of Misuari headed by MNLF commander Habier Malik who laid siege in Zamboanga City were reported either killed or wounded while the others are reportedly on the run now.

Based on that exclusive interview with Gazmin, his “mission accomplished” declaration was based on the purported rescue of the last remaining hostages last Thursday.

But where is Malik? And for that matter, where is Misuari? So what is Gazmin talking about? I asked in that column.

Obviously, however, Galvez was talking about a totally different statement that Gazmin read before the entire members of media present in a press conference that he and Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas II called the next day, Saturday when this “Mission accomplished” came out already.

That settled, I am running the Letter to the Editor of Galvez in its entirety in the spirit of fair play.

“At the outset, please allow the Defense Department to place in print the exact statement that was made by the Honorable Secretary  Voltaire T. Gazmin on Sept. 28, 2013 during the meeting with elected officials of Zamboanga City in the presence of the media in Western Mindanao Command Conference Room in Zamboanga City, as follows:

‘Twenty days after lawless elements attacked Zamboanga City, the security operation to clear areas of organized armed lawless elements has been completed. The primary objective of the operation was for the safe recovery of the hostages. The security forces have so far rescued 195 hostages. We believe that we have accounted for all the hostages. The operation also resulted to the loss of an estimated 193 on the side of these lawless elements and caused the surrender or capture of 292. We grieve the loss of 23 AFP/PNP personnel, 3 of whom were AFP officers, and the wounding of 183 others.

‘The second phase of these security operations will be undertaken, primarily by the PNP, supported by the AFP. It will involve house-to-house searches for booby traps, IEDs, firearms and other pertinent materials left behind. The operation will be undertaken by the PNP and local government officials, and other concerned agencies, to ensure that the operation is done properly.

‘As the operation of Phase II commences, it is expected that the city government’s plan for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the affected areas will come into action. Our forces will remain until such time as the City of Zamboanga can comfortably dispense of their presence. We are aware that this will be a crucial phase, in that your ability to overcome the daunting task of picking up the pieces from the ruins of this conflict will be the measure of your resolve to rise above the challenges that now confronts you. Rest assured of our continued support as you go about rebuilding your city and your lives as well.’

“Clearly, in the preceding statement that was made by the Honorable Secretary, nothing can be construed to mean ‘mission accomplished’ as stated by Ms. Villanueva in her news column. If ever there were any utterance of such words, it must be construed to mean completion of the first phase of the operations.

“The first phase of the operations was based on the accounting of facts of what had happened as a result of the MNLF siege, such as the number of hostages rescued, the loss of lives incurred, the number of the MNLF who either surrendered or captured, and the number of those who were wounded during the incident.

“It should be noted that the Secretary of National Defense made an announcement on the second phase of the security operations to be undertaken by the PNP with the support of the AFP which would involve house-to-house searches for booby traps, IEDs, firearms and other pertinent materials left behind.

“Thereafter, there are still a lot of things to  be done which would necessitate the rehabilitation and rebuilding of Zamboanga City and the lives of our citizens therein until genuine normalcy in that area is achieved.

“Thank you for hearing the side of the Defense Department and our genuine role in this unfortunate event.”

We share the nation’s deep appreciation of the valor and dedication of our soldiers and police forces who sacrificed their lives to end the Zambo siege.

But let no one diminish their heroism in quibbling over trivial matters.