Secret AFP group calls on fellow soldiers to serve the people and abandon GMA
(Statement in reaction to announcement of 10th Infantry “Agila” Division of the Philippine Army of recruitment and training of candidate-soldiers to beef up manpower as it desperately confronts the surging revolutionary armed resistance of the people.)
We have long been clouded with the illusion that we are laying down our lives in supreme sacrifice for the lofty ideal of nation-building and in defense of democracy against the “lawless” and “godless” enemies of the state.
And to this, we exhort to our fellow soldiers in the AFP:
It is time we re-examine our orientation and mindset, and look into the real problems of the country so we can correctly identify who our genuine enemies. By this method alone can we point our efforts against the causes of the nation’s ills and be part of the historic peace-building and of healing the wounds of our nation.
We should ask ourselves why our brothers and sisters in the mountains are determined to take up arms in armed resistance against the status quo. Surely, this courage stems not from getting a fat paycheck or from a simple case of repudiated indoctrination. This valor can only come from their present desperate lot as farmers without lands and as ordinary civilians dispossessed. They realize their oppression and they have no option but to lay their lives to fight the very system that has doomed them to a life of poverty and want.
We must examine ourselves; we, who belong to the lowest rungs of the military hierarchy, the rank and file, the lower echelons are actually killing machines who mercilessly snuff the lives of our countrymen in the name of the most corrupt and shameless leader this land has ever seen. We are, in fact, cannon fodders and protectors of the present dispensation where only the rich gets richer and more powerful in every political and economic crisis while the poor become poorer.
We are the ordinary soldiers pushbuttoned to search and destroy the vast countryside, most of the time with the barest equipment, munitions and operating on a measly budget further made inferior by institutionalized corruption at the highest echelons of our organization and the government. In contrast, our higher ups are most comfortable in their cozy air-conditioned headquarters, spending hours in golf courses and living the posh life while arrogantly pushing us beyond the limits. They are so high and mighty in their well-starched attires as they face the media and boast of defeating the enemy, of wiping out the enemy, of containing the enemy, of pursuing the enemy, when, truly, they are far from the bloody field and combat war areas.
Like you, fellow soldiers, we entered the profession of arms so young and so full of idealism. We thought we could make a difference by being soldiers who selflessly serve our motherland. Much later and gradually, we become witnesses to the unspeakable corruption and rottenness of this supposedly professional organization.
We have lost our idealism as we pursue our mission, and came to realize that the selfless service to our motherland actually meant engaging in a war that we are not prepared to die for.
If we had the chance we’d rather that you find other productive endeavors while you still have your sense of self-respect and vision intact than become mercenaries and active participants to an unjust, anti-people’s war masquerading as a war on terror. We want to spare you the horrors of a guilty conscience as you perform acts demeaning to human beings and atrocities against civilians and noncombatants.
We call on you to think twice. Before losing your sense of decency we can find ways of linking up with the wide masses of our marginalized brothers and sisters. If we cannot abandon what we had started we might as well have the courage enough to recognize the legitimacy and justness of the people’s struggle. We can establish lines and concrete ways of cooperating with our brethren in the revolutionary movement.
It would be very unfortunate, indeed, if we, the sons and daughters from the poorest sections of the country, would put on the uniform of the reactionary armed services bearing the emblem of the Katipunan. Then one day find ourselves pointing our guns against the hapless poor civilians as we go about accomplishing our task and our mission.
Let us be the true descendants of our forefathers, and be the worthy successors of the revolutionary tradition of Andres Bonifacio and let us not betray the heroic tradition of the Katipunan. Let us serve the people in the true revolutionary sense.
(SGD) JOSE DEL PILAR
Spokesman for Eastern Mindanao
Lt. Crispin Tagamolila Movement
Backrounder:
*Lt. Crispin Tagamolila Movement is a secret study movement established during the first quarter storm of the 70’s. It is composed of enlightened active and reserve AFP officers, enlisted personnel from within the different service branches of the Armed Forces of the Philippines espousing the national democratic aspirations. Lt. Crispin Tagamolila was a Philippine Military Academy graduate in the 70s who joined the New People’s Army and died a martyr for the revolution during the tumultuous years of Martial Law.
