"It’s Insulting, but It’s the Truth"
Filipino Youth Say RP Needs US Military to Defeat Abu Sayyaf
By Alfred A. Araya Jr.
© CyberDyaryo,13 February 2002

ASKED WHAT they thought of "Balikatan", their young faces took on puzzled looks. But asked if they favor the deployment of US troops in the country to help Filipino soldiers fight the Abu Sayyaf, their answers would certainly make President Gloria Arroyo smile.

For these Filipino youth, if the training and assistance provided by the US military to the Philippine military results in finally crushing the notorious Abu Sayyaf bandits in Basilan who, the youngsters say, have become a pain in the country’s neck, then so be it.

But they also noted that this reflects how sorely incapable their government and armed forces are in solving the Abu Sayyaf problem that they have to ask for assistance from a foreign country.

Although it may sound insulting to their being Filipino, several of them said, "It's the truth, di talaga natin kaya (we really can’t handle it)."

CyberDyaryo conducted spot interviews of 11 young Filipinos around Quezon City Hall and Quezon Memorial Circle areas last Monday (Feb.11) on what is perhaps the biggest issue in the country today.

Progressive groups that have tirelessly voiced their opposition to the Balikatan exercises have their work cut out for them "converting" the majority of Filipinos to their cause. According to a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey conducted late last year, most Filipinos agree that is all right for the country to get foreign military assistance.

Ignorance of the issue
When asked, "What is your opinion on Balikatan?" the interviewees registered a blank, asking, "Ano ba 'yung Balikatan (What is this Balikatan)?"

Heinrich de Guzman, 18, a sophomore at the Central Colleges of the Philippines on Aurora Boulevard in QC, was the only one who could define the joint military exercises which, he described as: "Philippine marines getting help from American marines to increase knowledge in combat."

Fourteen-year-old Joy Christine Ilagan, a second year high school student at the Culiat Public School in QC, and her classmates who were resting after volleyball practice in the Quezon Circle admitted they were not familiar with the word "Balikatan." But Ilagan said later "it's okay" since Balikatan would "increase the knowledge of the military."

Friends Aileen Nazareth, 19, Cynthia Salem, 20, and Lorie Ordoña, 20, gave puzzled looks when asked for their opinion on the Balikatan. But after a short briefing, Nazareth, a freshman at the Our Lady of Lourdes Technology Institute, said she approves of the US troops in the country to "help us" since, in her view, Americans are good ("magaling") at war.

Her friends, Salem, a recent college graduate, and Ordoña, a second year student at the Far Eastern University, chorused that they really want to see the end of the Abu Sayyaf problem. It has taken too long, said Ordoña.

Exasperation over Abu Sayyaf
"Hanggang ngayon wala pa ring nagagawa 'yung Pilipinas sa [Abu Sayyaf] kaya kailangan talaga ng 'Kano (Up till now the Philippines hasn’t done anything about the Abu Sayyaf, which is why we need the Americans)," Nazareth said. The three friends said they would not join any protest rally opposing Balikatan.

It took some time for Jacquilou Martinez, 21, a senior at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, to remember what she had read about foreign troops coming in "to help fight the Abu Sayyaf."

Expressing exasperation at the lingering problem of the Abu Sayyaf, Martinez said she favors American help. "Okay lang sa akin na tumulong sila. Iisa pa, di naman talaga natin kakayanin talaga e (Their help is okay by me. We really can’t handle it)."

She asked, "Why don't we try for those who have extra knowledge (US troops) to help us? Aren't two heads better than one?"

Martinez' friend, Jesus Viray, 21, who is currently out of school, said he also approves of US military assistance for the Philippine armed forces.

Martinez doesn't object to American soldiers engaging in the Abu Sayyaf in actual combat. (The Abu Sayyaf bandits continue to US Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap in Basilan nine months after they were kidnapped.) Told by CyberDyaryo that it this would be a violation of the Philippine Constitution, Martinez admitted she did not know.

She said she does not see anything wrong with the US coming in, and that in her school, most of her friends share her view: "Di sila (they aren’t) against."

In her strongest remarks to those opposing the military exercises, the President has drawn the line calling her critics "not Filipinos," "supporters of terrorists" and "Abu Sayyaf lovers."

Opponents of Balikatan, however, are undaunted and continue to raise the issue of the deployment of US soldiers in the country as a violation of national sovereignty.

Sovereignty, an alien concept
But for some of the youth, even those in college, "national sovereignty" to be an alien concept.

Racquel Simbulan, 22. said she's in favor of US troops in the country since they could "share" their knowledge and skills in finding the Abu Sayyaf. Besides, she added, "Sabi nila mahina mga sundalong Pilipino para mahuli 'yun (They say Filipino soldiers are not good enough to catch them)." On the positive side, she said, the foreign soldiers could also learn something from their Filipino counterparts.

Simbulan thinks highly of Americans and does not see any disadvantage to their presence in the country. "Hindi ko iniisip na may nagawa silang masama. Sa pananaw ko, pag mga foreigner, Amerikano, okay sa akin. Walang bad image (I don’t think they are doing anything wrong. The way I see it, if the foreigners are American, it’s ok with me. There is no bad image)."

Rozzette Luat, 20, third year computer science student at the Collegio de San Lorenzo, said, "Actually, thankful pa nga ako na may ibang country na concerned (I’m actually thankful that another country is concerned)."

Government can’t hack it
She said the bandits are the reason investors don't come into the country. But does she not feel insulted as a Filipino that the government has to ask for help from a foreign country to solve what the progressive groups say is "simply a domestic and police problem".

She replied, "Ba't natin sasabihin na kaya natin e 'di naman pala talaga kaya. 'Yun lang 'yung totoo, para sa akin (Why should we insist that we can handle it when we really can’t. That’s the truth, as I see it)."

Echoing Luat, Heinrich de Guzman said one of the main reasons he favors the military exercises is that he's tired of the Abu Sayyaf. That, and "hindi kaya ng gobyerno natin (our government can’t handle it)."

"Aminado ako, mahina talaga gobyerno ng Pilipinas.(I admit the Philippine government is weak)," he said.

Rem Dineros, 21, an employee of a market research firm, said, "Kung talagang training lang, walang masyadong problema 'dun (If it’s only training, it won’t be such a big problem)," she said, expressing her support for Balikatan. However, she expressed concern over the possible rise in prostitution and of sexually transmitted diseases because "we don't know what the Americans are carrying."

But Dineros stressed that she would withdraw her support if the US troops stayed permanently in the country.

Although they were in favor of Balikatan, once they learned what it is all about, the young people interviewed by CyberDyaryo were bothered by the impression it gives of the incompetence of government and the armed forces in solving a local problem. Dineros said, "Parang napaka-walang kwenta naman ng mga sundalo natin at kailangan pa tayong kumuha sa iba (It’s as if our soldiers are so inutile that we have to get help from elsewhere)."

Luat expressed concern that calling in Americans to do the job of the country's soldiers gives the Philippines a "bad image".

Only one of eleven
Of the 11 interviewees, only Haya de la Cruz, 17, a high school senior in Culiat Public School in Quezon City expressed disapproval of the Balikatan exercise. "Pinapababa niya ang moralidad ng mga Pilipino (She is bringing down the morale of Filipinos)," de la Cruz said of the President's decision to ask for help from a foreign country to fight the Abu Sayyaf. The presence of US troops in the country, she said, only shows how Filipinos cannot solve their own domestic problems.

De la Cruz said "it's not right" for President Arroyo to say that those who are against her policy are "not Filipinos" and "Abu Sayyaf lovers". With a smile, she told CyberDyaryo: "Kung sabihin man niyang Abu Sayyaf lover ako, tatanggapin ko na rin (If she insists on calling me an Abu Sayyaf lover, I will accept it)."

-CyberDyaryo

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