Esperon’s swan song

‘Yano he will have to pick up the pieces after Esperon exits in a blaze of self-proclaimed successes.’

That said, we are wary of another government-orchestrated campaign to justify the extension of Esperon’s service. Officials said he is needed to press the war against the Abu Sayyaf and the New People’s Army. We can already see the government bombarding us with press releases about renewed offensives and about claimed successes. If only the campaign were limited to press releases, no long-term harm could come of it.

What we are afraid of is suddenly seeing an all-out offensive with no objective but for Gloria Arroyo to be able to say, "The rebels are on the run; see, Jun is proving the wisdom of my extending his stay."

Maybe we are just overly suspicious. But looking back over the last three months when Esperon had still to secure an assurance of an extension, we have cause to fear we are being treated to a game of smoke and mirrors, with possibly real deaths and destructions in its wake.

When the idea of Esperon staying after his 56th birthday was first floated, it was accompanied with alarms over a purported renewed attempt from disgruntled sections in the military for a new coup attempt.

Esperon was pictured as the only man who could whip the military into line. When not even a shadow of a destabilization attempt surfaced, this was trumpeted by government propagandists as proof Esperon was indeed indispensable.

The same old trick is likely to be pulled off. We can only sympathize with communities which at this very moment are being targeted by AFP planners for salvation from the influence of bad old communists and newly emerging terrorists.

We are already familiar with the features of the offensive mounted by the AFP in Central and Southern Luzon two years ago. Communities suspected of being sympathetic to rebels were blockaded and every resident required to show proof of his loyalty to the Republic. Checkpoints were put up to winnow the rebels and their sympathizers from their supporters. Inflow of food was controlled to starve those who were not on the list of "legitimate" residents.

The result predictably was further loss of trust on a government whose soldiers were seen as an occupying force. To this day, the military in Central Luzon still has to recover from the resentment and hatred generated by the rampage ordered by Maj. Gen. Jovito "The Butcher" Palparan.