By Cecilio Arillo, Businessmirror, Aug 22, 2018
Part 2
Divided and ill-trained military
THE once active Grand Alliance for Democracy, a Philippine opposition party, had revealed that “the Philippine military, which was then grossly divided, was failing in its task to contain the rising tide of communist insurgency.” Gen. Richard Stillwell echoed this observation, thus: “The members of the Philippine Armed Forces are ill-trained, undisciplined, divided and not motivated.”
Stillwell, former US defense undersecretary, added that “perhaps the most severe shortcoming is the absence of rigorous, systematic, indoctrination and training in the fundamentals of counter-insurgency. Periodic unit training is the precondition for effective operations, yet most battalions have not undergone a formal training. By ignoring training, the Armed Forces of the Philippines failed to imbue the average soldier with the imperative that he is the visible symbol of good government in the countryside.”
Other equally serious problems identified by Gen. Stillwell are:
Personnel and logistic support are underfunded and inefficient. Maintenance, particularly of mobility equipment, is poor by any standard;
Precise and timely intelligence about the enemy is sadly lacking, which contributes to the defensive mode of the military, who suffers disproportionate losses as they react to Communist initiatives and whose own initiatives are all too frequently set piece operations that strike into empty air;
There is no current capability to target the leadership of the Communist Party of the Philippines;
Functionalism and disgruntlement are also rampant within the senior ranks of the officer corps;
The recent presidential edicts impose stringent new requirements and time limits for arrest and detention of the Communist infrastructure, while making rebellion a bailable offense, affect personnel morale and operating efficiency; and,
The Civilian Home Defense Force is in disarray.
The Shadow Government
In a report, Gen. Richard Stillwell remarked: “But much larger and more dangerous than the visible New People’s Army is the associated, and largely covert, political apparatus that has steadily increased in power in the countryside.”
Stillwell added that the “CPP political apparatus benefited greatly from the almost complete disruption of the nation’s administrative structure that followed the Marcos overthrow. In 1986, President Aquino summarily removed all duly elected officials in the then 73 provinces (some 140,000 governors, mayors, and municipal councilmen) together with most of their staff; and appointed temporary replacement.
“Whether unwittingly or not, her first Minister for Local governments, Aquilino Pimentel (whom Vice President Salvador Laurel identified as a communist in his report to the Philippine Congress), put into key local positions a number of Communist and Communist sympathizers who have allowed the NPA to operate freely in their areas.” He also said that today the CPP “has penetrated all levels of government and is increasing its base in the cities.”
“The Aquino government’s problem about the growth of the insurgency movement was further compounded by the Declaration of the communists made on December 26, 1987, at their 18th year anniversary of existence and fighting in the Philippines: ‘The Filipino people’s problem could only be solved through a people’s war and we are ready to wage it’.”
Foreign Assistance to the Communists
Funds were not only being raised by the CPP through “local taxation” but also from foreign sources. The Red Alert Christian ministry in the Philippines reported: “In the past years the CPP through the effort of its chairman Jose Maria Sison and Father Luis Jalandoni received aid from communist countries amounting to $1.8 million. The CPP’s funds were deposited in various banks in Hong Kong and one of them is BPI International Finance.”
On January 28, 1988 the Philippine Star reported: “Military intelligence had received reports that a Belgian organization has sent P1.87 million as foreign aid to the rebels. The Star, quoting declassified intelligence reports, said the Belgian organization known as ‘Entraide et Fraternite’ had been supporting the rebel movement through huge amounts of financing coursed through non-governmental groups. These groups are reportedly communist front organizations.”
“The governor of Samar reported to Mrs. Aquino that Russian ships have been sighted unloading tons of arms and ammunition in the town of Catarman in the island province of Samar on the Pacific side of the Philippines. Philippine newspapers quoted Mrs. Aquino as saying ‘just disregard the report’.”
A California based Filipino newspaper, the Philippine Examiner, reported on August 4, 1988 that two submarines were seen at about 11:30 a.m. cruising in between Homonhon and Habuong Islands a few kilometers from shore, motor launch captain Danilo Espinosa told the military. Colonel Wilfredo Reotutar of the Eastern Visayas constabulary said when an army team arrived at Hinundayan, Leyte, the submarine had just left. He expressed concern that submarines could be from hostile forces out to smuggle in weapons and communication equipment for the New People’s Army (NPA).
The conclusion then of many observers is that the Philippines is fighting for survival against a determined communist rebellion, under a weak, divided, and paralyzed national leadership already controlled by the Communists. Gen. Stillwell warned: “The CPP is now in a stronger military and political position that were the Viet Cong in 1963.” There were then 24,000 fulltime VC fighters, with an unquantifiable supporting infrastructure.
(To be continued)
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