Tuesday, July 08, 2008 Editorial: Duping and being duped
THE military is urging local government units not to be lenient in giving out permits for rallies following a raid by the New People's Army on a police office in Banaybanay town in Davao Oriental where the raiders pretended to be rallyists carrying placards while riding in vans.
It's a natural reaction for anyone who has been through such an experience to suspect every single placard-bearing person. In a similar way, it's most likely that the survivors of m/v Princess of the Stars would not want to ride any sea craft anytime soon. But coming from the military, this spells paranoia.
City Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte, at the height of the attacks in the city in 2003, has repeatedly said, we just have to go on living because by being afraid, we are just allowing the terrorists to win.
We cannot hide in our homes and shut down our businesses just because terrorists have struck and may strike again, the mayor said. We just have to go on with our lives, albeit being more vigilant, because doing otherwise is what the terrorists want us to do.
We did go on with our lives, with several security measures set up and the Task Force Davao brought in as additional help, and now we're a lot better for doing so as we see the city growing in an unimaginable pace.
Now back to the attack on a municipal police office and the distrust of rallyists...
This is not the first time the rebels duped those they intended to attack. We must not forget that in the raid of the armory of the Davao Prison and Penal Farm in April 2007, the rebels pretended to be members of the Task Force Davao riding in vans that had engine trouble. If we're to follow the trend of thought that the military is pushing now, then right after that Dapecol raid, the military should have told local government units to be wary of anyone wearing TF Davao patches. But, this wasn't pushed, simply because it's ridiculous. Almost a decade ago somewhere in Davao del Norte, it was a group of rebels pretending to be policemen and yet there was even no attempt to put up checkpoints just for uniformed policemen.
But this time they're asking LGUs not to trust placard-bearing people, for a similar reason. And we say, it's still as ridiculous.
The tactical victory of the rebels in that Banaybanay raid is not about placard-bearing protesters and the ubiquitous rallyists who have become almost a part of the landscape in this part of the country. Rather it is about scheming and plotting and outwitting an enemy all with the end-purpose of winning a war. The loss of the police in that raid is also not about placard-bearing protesters and their kin, it is about not knowing what being on alert means and being outwitted. Before the Banaybanay raid, there have been several, almost daily, gunbattles and engagements between the military and the rebels and yet one municipal police office was caught with its pants down by placard-bearing protesters. That a police office can be caught off-guard at the height of rebel offensives is sending a disturbing message that is spelled I-N-C-O-M-P-E-T-E-N-C-E.
Sorry if we're blunt, but a sugarcoated bullet will kill you just as fast and trying to sugarcoat a glaring mistake that has historical precedence can be dangerous for us all -- both as people who keep the peace and as people who want to live in peace.
