The Doctor is Out >> The Doctor is Out

Collateral Damage
by Dr. Paul Bisnar

PGMA's billions will not crush the insurgency

I can’t forget the story of this particular young boy named Jeff (his nickname) during my brief tour-of-duty as an army medical corps in Samar few years ago. I first met Jeff as a patient when his guardian brought him to Camp Lukban Station Hospital for consultation. His clinical diagnosis was quite common, but his life is tragic. 

His father is a dedicated soldier assigned in a company army detachment located in Barangay Cagpili, 60 kilometers away from Orias, Eastern Samar. Together with his wife and his baby Jeff, they lived inside the company detachment while he performs his duty.

One day, around a hundred communist rebels surprisingly attacked the army company detachment. His father and the rest of the soldiers defended the detachment despite of the overwhelming force. When Jeff’s mother realized their impending doomed situation, she hurriedly hid Jeff in a safe place. She joined the gun fight hoping to save his poor little baby. 

After that fierce battle, both Jeff parents were killed and the rest of the soldiers in that army company were almost decimated. Only few survived that fateful day and Jeff is one of them.

Last June 16, 2006, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the release of one billion pesos to crush the 8,000-strong communist rebels within two years. She said that this is an investment that will yield peace dividends to the economy. Two days after, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez commented that “collateral damage” or the loss of civilian lives is unavoidable in government’s total war against the communist insurgency.

PGMA effort to crush the communist rebels by brute force is short-sighted. She should watch Bill Paxton movie “Bright Shining Lie” and learn from the mistakes of the bloody Vietnam War. Based on my limited readings, I have never found any country with similar communist insurgency problem as ours successful in crushing it simply by brute force.Communism is a product of Karl Marx ideology. An ideology can only be defeated by a superior ideology and using a bloody all-out war is not the solution. I doubt that NPA will be eradicated within two years. I even doubt that by brute force alone, NPA will be eradicated.

I believe that through painstaking, sincere and complementary negotiation with the insurgents, we can attain peace. Crushing the enemy through brute force is a vicious cycle and adding more billion of pesos will not do the trick.

During this all-out war, I wonder how many more Jeff will be listed as collateral damage.

7/19/06 12:36:29 A
1343 views.
emailed 0 times.