WHILE passions are still smoldering, it will not be easy to sort out the various issues that led to and resulted from the slaughter of forty four PNP Special Action Force commandos in Maguindanao.
Former President Fidel V. Ramos offered the most sober analysis of the tragedy from the perspective of a retired general and a former commander-in-chief. But FVR’s analysis focused only on the “mis-planning,” “mis-judgment,” “mis-coordination” and “mis-execution,” which led to the “mis-encounter,” to paraphrase Mar Roxas’ euphemism.
Indeed, it is necessary to step back and view the incident from its various perspectives.
First of all, Oplan Wolverine or Oplan Exodus (why one operation should be known by two code names is confusing by itself) was undoubtedly a deadly mission into incendiary territory. It would have been terribly naive as well as overly optimistic for those who planned it to have guaranteed zero casualties,as Noynoy Aquino and Mar Roxas have been wont to predict before a natural catastrophe.
In that context, with due respect to them, the death of the forty four young troopers was part of the price of armed of conflict. Taken strictly in that light, after due honors are accorded, life should go on for the rest of the country.
But what has horrified the families of the deceased, as well as the entire nation, was the way the troopers were brutalized and plundered. The killings were not an act of war but cold-blooded murder.
For those specific acts, the families of the victims are certainly justified in reacting with indignation, and the justice system is right in demanding retribution. But that should be directed at the specific criminals involved not necessarily the entire MILF, unless it is established that its leaders were involved, too.
Until that involvement is established, the rationale for forging the peace with our brethren in Mindanao does not deserve to be scuttled. In fact, even if certain members of the MILF were involved, that should not weigh against the reason for the peace process. In the first place, in undertaking the peace negotiations, the government and the MILF knew that they would encounter challenges that would test their resolve.
On the other hand, the actuations and belligerence of the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) in connection with the incident demand more than passing notice from those who would approve the Bangsamoro Basic Law.
The MILF and the BIFF still need to believably explain the presence of an international terrorist in their camp. So far, they have only dealt in double-talk. They also need to demonstrate sincerity by giving back the personal belongings of the murdered troopers and turning over those who brutalized them. A tall order, indeed.
This brings us to the involvement of the President and why there is so much anger against him.
Surprisingly, the causes could have been avoided. First was his delayed reaction to and condemnation of the carnage. Second was his attempt to ward off accountability for the debacle and seeming attempt to pass on the blame to subordinates. Third was the ‘unofficial’ involvement of suspended PNP head Alan Purisima. Fourth was their decision to keep the PNP OIC Leonardo Espina and DILG Secretary Mar Roxas out of the loop.
Fifth was Aquino’s equivocation over the accountability of the MILF. Sixth was his inexplicable decision not to meet the remains of the fallen troopers when they arrived at Villamor Air Base.
Even when Aquino eventually acknowledged his overall responsibility for the incident as Commander-in-Chief, it took a lot of media and public pressure to make him do so – and he continued to equivocate on whether or not he and Purisima actively directed the operation.
For family members seeking comfort and a reassurance that their loved ones would get justice, these actuations of the President and Commander-in-Chief were not simply disappointing, they triggered outrage.
Why did Aquino act the way he did? Poor judgment owing to lack of experience in coping with a crisis. The absence of the necessary qualities of a leader. An aversion to taking blame or responsibility or an inability to understand the meaning of the phrase, “The buck stops here.”
The sad part is that this is the man we elected to lead our country. We must have known he was no Winston Churchill but did we expect him to be this inept?
The tragedy may be likened in some way to the fate of the hapless cavalry sent to to the Valley of Death in Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s epic poem, “Charge of the Light Brigade”:
“Half a league, half a league, half a league onward. All in the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.”
It is as a tribute to the Fallen Forty Four that I have written an adaptation of Tennyson’s poem:
“Half a league, half a league, half a league onward. All in the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.”
It is as a tribute to the Fallen Forty Four that I have written an adaptation of Tennyson’s poem:
Half a league, half a league, half a league onward.
Into the Valley of Death, charged the SAF.
Into the deadly marsh,
fighting the endless wars,
Caught in the jaws of hell, Forty Four fell.
Launch Oplan Wolverine, strike at the killers’ den.
None of the troopers knew someone had blun der’d.
Theirs not to make reply,
theirs not to reason why,
theirs but to do and die.
Thus in the field of hell Forty Four fell.
Help from the army, where?
Waited and wonder’d.
Hear we the sound of drums?
Will reinforcements come?
Who gives the order?
Reel’d from the bullets force,
shatter’d and sunder’d
Ammo and hope had dried. Forty Four died.
Bullets to right of them,
bullets to left of them, bullets behind them,
Volley’d and thunder’d;
Storm’d at with shot and shell,
trapped Special Forces fell,
They that had fought so well, slaughter’d and plunder’d.
There in the field of hell, pummeled from every side.
Forty Four died.
When will the truth be told? Is there a leader bold?
The nation wonders.
Justice must come before peace paid with blood and gore.
Justice and honor for The Fallen Forty Four.
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