True soldiers leave no one behind, others fold their arms
I do not buy even for a minute the military's claim that lack of coordination prevented them from coming to the aid of beleaguered PNP SAF troops pinned down by devastating enemy fire from the MILF. I find it a more plausible reason that the military held back on orders of some higher authority in order not to compromise the peace process with Muslim rebels.
I am not a soldier but I am no stranger either to the martial way of life, having lived through snatches of it in the many years I spent in school. And while that may be a petty comparison to the real thing, I am at least man enough to say that in a situation where the life or death of my fellow men in uniform depended on whether or not I will come to their aid, there should be no hesitation about my eventual decision.
I do not think I can live with the thought that I willingly refused to come to the aid of my fellow men in uniform in favor of some pie in the sky, no matter who was sewing up that picture in my mind's eye. To me there is only one decision to make, and that is to come to my comrades' aid in their time of need. And if I get punished for it, so be it. The lives I save will be more than enough to allow my conscience a good night's sleep.
But that is just about the military. In the other lives that people lead, the response to crisis situations is almost always the same. In a basketball game, members of the same team often come to the rescue of a teammate in trouble. And while fighting in sports should not be allowed and tolerated, let it not be denied that the initial impulse is always to come to someone's aid. Fines and suspensions have never stopped bench-clearing reactions and we all know why.
That is the nature of all men. Whether it is rooted in animal behavior or not, I do not know. But that is another issue altogether. The fact is, we all come together for those in dire need, even those from the other side. The history of mankind, particularly those involving conflict and warfare, is replete with accounts of heroism and gallantry when it came to saving lives on whatever side of conflict's bitter divides.
Even in the often rapacious arena of politics, the quarrels between politicians can often get more passionate among supporters, many of whom will not hesitate to risk their lives if they see their political patrons threatened in any way. To be sure, some may be paid, others repaying a favor. But the fact that they are willing to die should shame those who did not come to the aid of the SAF troopers.
On that fateful day of January 25, in the cornfields and marshes of Mamasapano, Maguindanao, troops from the PNP SAF cried out for help from the military and whoever was within hearing range of the din of battle. But no help ever came. Not only that no help came, it was not given. And not only was it not given, it was not given because of lack of coordination.
What lack of coordination? Lack of coordination does not hold water in light of the Mamasapano situation. The military can probably fold its arms -- for lack of coordination -- in the first few minutes, or even hours of the firefight. But the battle lasted from dawn until dusk. I do not think any man in uniform who is a true soldier at heart can bear to just fold his arms for 12 whole hours simply because those he can hear and see being slaughtered did not coordinate.
It is just like seeing a man drowning in a pool with the lifeguard simply watching because the pool owner told him the man did not pay for the use of the pool. I am sorry to say this, but the military who refused to come to the aid of the SAF 44 besmirched their uniform's long and honorable traditions of valor by simply standing by while other men in uniform on the same side of the conflict were getting slaughtered within earshot.
I get sick in the stomach each time I hear the military mouth that contrived piece of limp alibi called lack of coordination. It betrays the cowardice of those who could not man up to admit to the people that the alibi is meant to protect the commander-in-chief, who is the real culprit in the massacre, and who himself broke the chain of command by coordinating with a suspended official instead of with those he should have coordinated.
I cannot see what is so special and sacred about this treacherous commander-in-chief that to protect him 44 brave commandos had to lose their lives, some in the most humiliating and degrading of ways in the hands of an enemy that had no qualms desecrating their bodies and looting their belongings, a commander-in-chief who to this day refuses to own responsibility for his misdeeds.
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