PRESIDENT Digong ordered his law enforcers (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) to fight like James Bond in waging a war against terrorism and narco-politics. The president is correct. He cannot win this war in the battlefield, but in secret and sophisticated places using a James Bond strategy.
“The name’s Bond, James Bond.” He drinks a medium-dry martini, lemon peel, shaken, not stirred. James Bond is a fictional secret agent created by Ian Fleming in the 1950’s. He is an elite spy with a top secret 00 prefix, giving him a license to kill. He is a master of disguise, a master of super science gadgets, and a master of seduction.
He fights super evil villains beneath the earth, in the ocean, all over the planet, and even in outer space. And somehow, during all these, he manages to bed at least several beautiful women per adventure. If the president wants his enforcers to fight this way, he may start the audition now to identify the most qualified for the likeness of a screen war. He has to come up with a Q Division for his Agent 007.
While many people daydream about Bond’s sartorial, gambling, and sexual skills, they also dream about his gadgets: Walther PPK gun, golden guns, ray guns, and rocket firing cigarettes. We want to add the spy shaving kit, homing device buttons, the Geiger counter wristwatch, propulsion devices, and mini jets, among others.
Bond is so popular. His persona excites men and fascinates women. We are visually and mentally stunned by his toys. Our enforcers have to become spies. Spying has evolved from deception and espionage to the use of high-tech gadgets and computer hacking. Bond remains popular because he has changed with the times. James Bond as perceived by President Digong is a reflection of our desires and tastes, and therefore he always remains up-to-date.
I am sure President Digong loves to read the works of popular spy novelists: Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum and Eric Van Lustbader. To win his war (our war, too), President Digong should let his military advisers read the prominent villains in Bond books and movies who were engaging in terrorism and narco-politics.
Le Chiffre in “Casino Royale” is a member of Smersh, which is committed to the Communist takeover of the world. Sir Hugo Drax in “Moonraker” is a megalomaniac who has a messianic plan to kill everyone on earth and repopulate the world with perfect specimen he has hand-picked. In “License to Kill,” there is Franz Sanchez, drug lord who uses televangelist to solicit donations to finance drug activities and to broadcast the daily prices of cocaine to international buyers.
Some interesting villains met by James Bond include Mr. Big (“Live and Let Die”), Karl Stromberg (“The Spy Who Loved Me”), Ernst Stavro Blofeld (from “Thunderball” to “Spectre”), Rosa Klebb (“From Russia with Love”), Auric Goldfinger (“Goldfinger”), Max Zorin (“A View to a Kill”), Dominic Greene (“Quantum of Solace”), Emilio Largo (“Never Say Never Again”), Francisco Scaramanga (“The Man with a Golden Gun”), and many more.
Fighting like James Bond is not a joke. We need enforcers with loyalty, integrity, commitment, dedication, and intelligence. Their courage and bravery should be beyond compare. James Bond can always survive with victory because he is just alive in fiction. He has nine lives. He cannot ever die. If he grows old, he can be replaced by his producers.
Our policemen and soldiers are real. They can be bought or threatened. They could kill but they can also be killed. If they want to be James Bond, we can only say, “Enjoy your living daylights. The world is not enough.”