“I have been delivering presentations on Human Rights and Status of Peace Talks in the Philippines to police and military officers for more than four months now. At the same time, I have had also the chance to tour practically all the political regions in the country with the only exception of Region 1 and the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao. And with these travels came the opportunity to talk with our police and military personnel in charge of overseeing counter-insurgency operations in the countryside.
My interactions with security personnel reveal their uneasiness not towards the peace talks per se or the peace process in general but rather, to the ever-shifting and unpredictable policies of the government in dealing with the insurgency problem. Contrary to the prevailing opinion that the security establishment is always for the complete annihilation of those who oppose the government, many of our police and military officers are longing — and aspiring for peaceful resolution of armed conflicts that continue to pervade our country. As can be expected from a nation with fragile democratic institutions however, these sentient voices are usually drown out by their leaders who came to occupy lofty positions not necessarily out of merit, but primarily because of how they protected and promoted the GMA presidency. (more…)
Head-on Dialectic 