General Problem

Over 20 years of fighting rebel insurgents, yet until now we are not free from the fear of terrorism. To this day they remain armed, dangerous, and very angry people. Although I support some of their causes I never did support their means to an end. But that is not the question we need to answer. The question that we need to answer is that how is it that the one of the branches of government that gets the lion share of our budget, failed to suppress insurgency after all this years? Come on! Isn't the AFP more technologically superior than the insurgents? And how is it that even the smallest rebel group, known as the Abu Sayaff, remains a major threat to national security to this day?

You know, I am one of those who believes that war often does not end anything. The real casualties here are us. We create more damage than we make repairs. Bottom line is war is expensive. Good thing that our officers have expensive tastes.

When Gen. Edilberto Adan said that only 1% of the AFP officers are corrupt, I somehow wished that I watched another bad episode of jackass, rather than hear this bullish!t on the 11 p.m. news. This is not the first time that AFP has been under fire because of corruption. Allegations of corruption have existed ever since the MNLF problem during the martial law. I agree to that colonel interviewed in that ABS-CBN documentary, when he said its actually a tradition. He himself admitted that he involved himself in these corrupt practices when he realized that he could not go against the system. If Everybody has the knowledge of how it happens, then it is also possible that they know who makes it happen. After all, where there is smoke there is fire, and I'm telling you this is one hell of a smoke.

The victims of this corrupt practices are the very soldiers that we sent in front of the battle field. Just Imagine enduring the thick canopies of the forest, the early morning moisture, the weight of your ammunition, and not to mention the 60 pesos per day meal budget. While our generals enjoy luxury at their 100 million peso mansion, our loyal and brave soldiers could not even get a descent housing loan. While Generals use helicopters for their private means of transportation, many wounded soldiers die in the battlefield because no helicopter was available to conduct a rescue operation. While outgoing AFP chiefs will enjoy retirement benefits, and most probably a cabinet position, many of our amputated, blinded, and even dead soldiers and their family are having difficulty of receiving the benefits that they rightfully deserve. While a general can afford to have six sports utility vehicles, low ranking soldiers could not even rely on their combat boots to get where they are going.

I do not know how is it that AFP can afford to be so blind about what the real situation is. They get the lion share of the bugdet, but how much of that is really used to benefit our poor soldiers? How much of that is being used at least to assure that our soldiers have everything they need out there to survive? Whats worse, is that, the supplier of ammunition to the enemy is sometimes (or many times) the AFP itself. Ironic isn't it? being killed by the same ammunition you are supposed to use against the enemy.These are only some of the things that was told to me by some of the soldiers I know here in U.P.

But I wonder, these young officers, how long could they remain idealistic. How long before the system corrupts them when they rise above the ranks. Come to think of it, they are our only hope. Will they be like that Colonel interviewed on TV, seemingly proud of how he was helpless when the system corrupted him. Most of our officers are PMA graduates, and we are all aware how the concept of honesty and integrity becomes part of their breakfast. In fact cadets are so honest, that they take an exam inside the classroom, where the answers are written in the blackboard. But what happens to them when they go to the real world?

Now AFP generals are pissed off with congress. Saying that these allegations of corruption is demoralizing our soldier. They even threaten us of another coup attempt. Actually our soldiers were already demoralized even before these issues came up. They were demoralized by the same leaders that betrayed them. While they die for their country, their officers abandoned them, enjoying wealth and power they unjustly acquired.

I did not, nor will I support any coup attempt. Although I support some of their grievances, I am also afraid of what might happen to the country as a result of this. I hope something happens with all this investigation, because in the end it is the country that will suffer once more for this. Like I said, I never really liked the Idea of spending so much for warfare. Warfare is expensive, good thing our generals have expensive tastes. -Ahmad