Monday, July 21, 2008 Editorial: It just takes two
IT TAKES just two drunk Air Force men to fan back to flames distrust on the uniformed personnel of the government, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should always remember that.
Even the soldiers should remember that the very reason why they cannot seem to make much headway in winning the hearts and minds of the people in the hinterlands is because winning the hearts and minds is not ingrained in their consciousness.
You only have to see a soldier sloshed in liquor and you will agree that what is paramount in their consciousness is their being armed and connected to the military.
Many soldiers may raise their voice in protest, but we say, watch and listen. In vino veritas. It's the same downtown as in up in the mountains. It's the same in the Air Force compound.
And thus we have two Air Force personnel accused of hurting a six-year-old boy and all the military authorities could say for their part is that the men are under investigation.
Sad. And yet the military still wonders why it is losing the propaganda war against the communist rebels who live by the mantra of their ideologues that dictates that the true source of their power is the masses.
Had the authorities kept their ear on the ground and had they kept a keen watch on how the masses react to uniformed men, the first and most simple thing they should have done was make the accused apologize.
But no, the military will insist that due process has to be followed and that the two are innocent unless proven guilty. But are they? In the eyes of the people, they have just added one more tale to the perpetual tales of abuses of the military that will be told over and over again by the kibitzing public. Sad.
They don't even have to confess to having hurt the child; they just have to apologize for being drunk and for stirring up yet another antagonistic tale against men in uniform.
But no, that is too unthinkable for people who insist on due process to prove guilt, ergo apologies; and the military authorities would rather keep quiet while the investigation is going on. The fact that the Air Force men were drunk hasn't even been discussed as if it's something that the superiors would rather not bring up in the open, while the masses whisper among themselves asking, "Aren't they supposed to stay out of bars and pubs?"
In the quiet interim, more distrust is brewed.
And then they still wonder why they can't win over the hearts and minds of the masses when right within our midst, where the military are treated well and with more trust than they usually get elsewhere else, two Air Force men are reported to have abused a six-year-old boy.
Just two in one whole unit who man all those helicopters and bombers that hover above us; but that is more than enough because what we have in our midst is actually a war for perceptions and trust especially now when economic strife is fanning unrest.
