City council endorses Army presence amid protest

Iloilo City

March 2, 2015

The Army has deployed its special operations team in Iloilo City purportedly to support the civilian government eradicate poverty.

The two-week deployment of the unit from the 82^nd Batallion though has ignited a furor among militant organizations, and also prompted the city council to call for a public hearing.

The promised goal of the Army: community development

Kgd. Joshua Alim, chair of the committed on peace and order, said he was “alarmed” by the “unannounced arrival” of the Army contingent that made its presence felt in six economically blighted barangays.

Members of the local Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – Panay) and the human rights group Karapatan – Panay sent a delegation at the public hearing held this morning. Some of their members though staged a rally near Iloilo City Hall denouncing the “militarization” of the city.

This writer was unable to cover the entire proceeding nor the rally but it already looked a fait accompli as members of the city legislature voiced favorable endorsement to the Army presence. Kgd. Jason Gonzalez declared that Army “peace time efforts” like assisting the PNP in maintaining peace and order, and in performing civic actions was “welcomed” and “need public support” while Kgd. Eduardo Penaredondo explained “there is nothing wrong with soldiers performing civilian duties in times of peace.”

Kgd. Alim grilled Lt. Col. Enrequito Deocadiz, commanding officer of the Army's 82nd IB, most of the time and among the points he raised was to ask for assurance that the Army soldiers would not usurp the functions of the PNP of arresting people and in containing urban poor residents from staging protest actions.

“I want to be assured that the Army presence will not be used for the APEC conference and repeat what government did at the arrival of Pope Francis by rounding up and detaining street kids in cages just to hide the problem of widespread poverty,” he told Deocadiz. “Will you detain people within their communities during the Apec?”

“Will you also perform the function of the police by arresting people?” he asked the Army officer.

Deocadiz denied their deployment was intended to window dress Iloilo City and suppress legitimate exercise of free expression during the APEC meeting in Iloilo. APEC stands for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation whose second- and third-line officials (not necessarily trade ministers) will convene in Iloilo City in September for discussions on trade.

The Army officer though hinted they are in Iloilo City for the long haul stating that they will be solving social problems they identified, all of them socio-economic, particularly poverty and its cousins. His power-point presentation identified seven problems in the communities they are operating, quoting it verbatim, namely:

• lack of health facilities;
• lack of medical support for old age (sic) and children;
• lack of educational facilities;
• low wage income;
• existence of out-of-school youths;
• existence of informal settlers;
• existence of vices such as drunkennes, gambling, petty quarrels, and illegal drug users;

Further, Deocadiz vowed that the Army will “respect civilians and uphold the IHL.” IHL stands for International Humanitarian Law.

Incidentally, only the Army was grilled at the session. The opposition especially representatives of Bayan-Panay and Karapatan-Panay were only allowed there as mere audience.

Outside the city hall, the loud speakers blared condemnation of the militarization of Iloilo City and the acquisence of civilian officials to the Army which was taking over their functions in blighted communities.

“Our city officials might have been unaware of how the Army conducts its so-called civic operations in the countryside,” said one speaker. “They occupy public structures like day care centers, public plazas, chapels, schools which is prohibited under the International Humanitarian Law.”

Opinion:

If the Army indeed performed in Iloilo City according to its assurances before the city council, it will be redeeming its sullied reputation as a bully in the countryside, a human rights violator which cannot distinguish civilians from armed combatants.

If the Army indeed made true its word, it will further save its sagging image as “recruiter” for the the rebels, whether New People's Army or the armed Moro resistance. It will even save itself from the notoriety it has sunk itself in for having been serving as protector of giant corporations which plunder the country's mineral and forest resources and, conversely, for driving out farmers particularly, indigenous peoples (IPs) from their lands and their sources of life.

In all cases above, if the Army would live up to its promise as protector of the people”, it will be redeeming its bad name for the abuses attributed it by such international bodies as the United Nations and the Amnesty International, which in the final analysis, such abuses merely escalated the armed resistance and forced people to the side of revolutionaries.

However, on second thought, for it to carry out real development programs in Iloilo City, the Army has to fulfill one requisite: it must be led by a core of leaders committed to good governance, foremost thereof, the indomitable will to weed out corruption, something which the Armed Services in this blighted archipelago sorely lacks. 

Stated otherwise, the Armed Forces is riddled by shenanigans in its procurement system as shown by the P1.2 B procurement for 21 helicopters where only 10 were delivered. Only two of those delivered could fly, the rest were defective and sans spare parts one of which was delivered sans rotor.

Corruption in the Armed Forces further showed in the infamouso Mamasapano debacle of January 25 where 44 elite police commandoes were killed in a one-sided battle. The Senate committee investigating the incident found out, among other anomalies, the new grenades supplied to the Special Action Force (SAF) were dud which contributed to the slaughter.