Some rebels and some policemen
The majority of rebel returnees are pitiful. They could not afford so many luxurious things that the more creative of their compatriots could. If ever they decide to go back to the fold of the law, they could rely only on dole out livelihood projects from the government. At best, these could only afford them a hand-to-mouth existence.
For most of them are unemployable or with no qualifications. Either they were recruited from the jobless ranks of the barrios or they were too idealistic students who gave up their studies for some imagined “fruit-bearing” ideological struggle in the mountains. Only for most of them to find out after so many years of struggle there were no low hanging fruits they could pick. Whatever vision they had might take centuries to materialize, if at all.
But there are the more creative in their ranks, particularly those in the higher echelons. They belong to the “smarter” in Imelda Marcos’ “some are smarter than others.” They handle the donations from abroad and could afford to send their children to exclusive schools. They wear signature clothes and when they go to banks, their transactions are done indoors in the manager’s office. This means they deal in the millions of pesos.
On the other side of the fence, so many policemen undertake their duties responsibly and within the bounds of the law—which after all is what they had sworn to uphold or enforce. They live ordinary lives for that is what their lawful salaries could afford. More often than not, they die with almost empty pockets.
But just like the rebels, there are those who are smarter than the majority of their brethren. These are the policemen who internalized the reality in this country where joining a syndicate is best done by joining the government. Whenever they are in need of big amounts to buy a promotion, all they do is to kidnap for ransom a local Chinoy or, as is the trend now, a Korean.
The moral of these realities on either side of the fence is that the poor guys are the ones who are true to the path. While they will die poor, they will face their end with pride and honor—not despised and laughed at when they are not looking.**
