A few days ago there was that fake news on rebel “surrenderers.” Allegedly the pictures were manipulated. And there was that apparent admission on the part of government.
A very strong fuel that had been energizing the insurgency or the left is corruption that goes to the top rungs of government. Not only as a motive for the left’s continued existence. In the case of corruption in the AFP and in the National Police it goes to the very heart of the organizations that should be fighting the problem. Since these are corrupted, it means they are weak compared to the other side. Hence, the continued existence of the insurgency if not its progress.
We the ordinary citizens often wonder about ambushes which often caught the military or the police flat footed or surprised. As if there was no reliable intelligence at all to aid the law enforcers in the dispensing of their day-to-day functions. So where is the humongous intelligence fund of the government going?
The best example on the proper use of intelligence fund is Israel. Though it is surrounded by fanatic and filthy rich enemies, Israel had always been victorious in armed conflicts with them. Its superb intelligence gathering is israel’s secret. It knows what its enemies were planning so they were always prepared to counter-act these, or to abort them through sabotage.
A real problem such as the insurgency has to be fought on the merits. Not through underhanded ways such as false propaganda. Because the people will see through such and it erodes their trust in the police and in the army, and the government in general. If the lack of trust gets so bad, then it means the victory of the left.
Here are some rumors we keep on hearing and which the police and the military must have to deal with.
While the matter of ninja cops had already been proven beyond reasonable doubt and that it went all the way to very high-ranking officers, the matter of generals paying remote Cordilleran villagers to plant marijuana has to be thoroughly investigated.
There is also that allegation that some generals get a big chunk (about 50%) of the benefits a rebel “surrenderer” is entitled to. This is supposed to be as a fee for working out the release of the benefits.
Another one is the returning of high powered firearms captured during operations to the criminals for a fee.
And we overheard one gun enthusiast saying to a colleague, “don’t bring a beautiful gun to the firing range. If a policeman wants to have it, all he has to do is extort it from you by coming up with trumped-up charges.”
The way things look, there is still a long way to go in cleaning up the military and the PNIP but it is the only way to win against the insurgency and ordinary criminality.**