|
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
Editorials: Ten years? Five years? Two years?
By Which is which?
But actually, the number of years to end the 37-year-old (the longest in Asia) communist rebellion has not been discussed for a long time until recently.
This is because most of the Malacañang occupants that succeeded the administration of Ferdinand Marcos knew better: you fail to make good with your vow and you are shamed.
Deadline
That the Arroyo administration is raising the possibility of ending the communist rebellion in a number of years means that either it is determined enough to make good its vow or it is wallowing in illusion.
Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz started it all with a self-imposed deadline of 10 years, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales pegged it at five years, while President Arroyo herself wants these shortened to two years—at least in some regions.
How the number of years was arrived at has not been explained well and how the plan can be implemented successfully has not been specified.
History
Unfortunately for the Arroyo administration, history does not offer enough proof that the deadline, whether ten, five or six years, could be met.
The New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, was organized in 1969 with only around more than 60 fighters mostly armed with World War II vintage rifles and operating only in Luzon.
That ragtag rebel army was ranged against thousands of well-equipped personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the then Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police under a wily and ruthless president: Marcos.
Not only did the Marcos regime fail to quell the rebellion, the number of NPA fighters reached more than 20,000 at its peak, this time armed with more sophisticated firearms and operating in all regions of the country.
That number of armed fighters would be reduced to half but still several times as formidable as the ragtag band even the Marcos dictatorship failed to annihilate.
AFP’s take
This is the reason why some military officials were guarded in their response to the timetable, with the AFP spokesman himself, when told of President Arroyo’s two-year deadline, saying that it can be done only if other government agencies will help.
That was recognition that the communist rebellion is being fueled by the poverty prevalent throughout the country and that crushing it is as much an economic as a military undertaking.
Meaning, it is easier said than done.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 20, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
|
[return to top]
[home]
[network page]
|
LOCAL NEWS
BUSINESS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFESTYLE
FEATURE
SUPERBALITA
WEEKEND
|
