‘Are Filipinos today more patriotic? Are the candidates for national seats (senators, vice president, chief executive) less colonized or more neo-colonial?’
CONGRATULATIONS to Dr. Ricardo T. Jose and the other guy for their book (Guerrilla Days in the Philippine South) that was launched 27 April 2022, whose foreword included this nugget from DND Undersecretary Ernesto G. Carolina: “It was also quite unfortunate that the Filipinos, particularly the political leaders at that time, seemed to have taken for granted that Philippine defense and security were America’s obligation to us, in view of our historical, close, and friendly colonized-colonizer relations. Thus, we became so complacent, so unbothered, that the only thing we felt needed to be done then was to just wait and see, even as war clouds had already been forming ominously under the Philippine sky years before the Japanese began their assault.”
Those war clouds have re-formed and are thickening even as we celebrate Sir Rico’s newest obra and observe the 80th anniversary of the Fall of Corregidor. And are we now to assume that retired Gen. Carolina’s DND will do a better job of opposing a 21st century version of Oriental Hitlerism? Are Filipinos today more patriotic? Are the candidates for national seats (senators, vice president, chief executive) less colonized or more neo-colonial? Are the politicos less traditional or worse trapos than ever? Are the celebrities better educated or stupider than ever? Is the Philippines a better place in 2022 or is the SARS-CoV-2 virus the one doing the slapping? Is the Golden Age coming back or is it a tale of fairies and factotums? Are you tickled pink, curious yellow or green with envy? Biden now, Trump later? Xi Jinping versus Li Keqiang? Ukraine now, Taiwan soon? COVID-19 plus Ebola? Catastrophic climate change or zombie apocalypse? Black hole or Apophis 2029? ISIS or Al-Qaeda? World War III-A?
Or World War III-B? New Delhi/Beijing, 06 October 2021 — World War Three could be triggered “at any time” because China has warned America of the escalating tensions between Taiwan and Beijing. [https://sg.news.yahoo.com/world-war-three-could-triggered-110504807.html] In which case all the more we should be reading Prof. Jose’s “Guerrilla Days in the Philippine South” for pointers: “It was believed that the Japanese had planned their invasion of the Philippines as early as the 1920s, using a benign and innocent approach; setting up bars; shops; cafes or business establishments to be able to mix and mingle with the locals. The stores, however, were near military sites. And some of the Japanese proprietors were military officers in disguise.” [Chapter I: Introduction: Japan Expands to the Asiatic Mainland] Benign and innocent? POGOs? Telco No. 3? “Chinese nationals top immigration law violators in 2021” [https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1166191]
Another situationer from Prof. Jose’s “Guerrilla Days in the Philippine South” for more tips: “The Maranaos refused to pay taxes, which they saw as only benefiting non-Muslims. In the same year, Lanao Muslims built cottas or forts to defy the Commonwealth government. The Commissioner for Maranao and Sulu, Teopisto Guingona, in 1937, decided that all cottas had to be demolished. Quezon supported Guingona, sending Philippine Army troops to quell the resistance. It was ironic that the first active combat experience of the Philippine Army and Philippine Army Air Corps was the destruction of Muslim cottas. Quezon was set on working out the development of the region and administering it directly in the context of government plans and programs, rather than in accordance with Muslim practices, usages, and traditions.” [Chapter II: The Setting: The Philippine South in Pre-War Years]
Ironic? Zamboanga City, 06 April 2022: “JTF-Sulu records showed that a total of 48 Abu Sayyaf Group members surrendered since January, this year.” [“2 more ASG bandits yield, denounce terror group’s ‘deception’,” https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1171551]
Resilience or survival or victory? What is the plan then? Again, Prof. Jose’s “Guerrilla Days in the Philippine South” for the answers: “The original Visayas-Mindanao Force (VMF) mission was ‘to defend the Philippine territory by an organized defense with all available troops, equipment and resources; when no longer able to carry on an organized resistance, to divide into small groups and initiate guerrilla warfare.’ In other words, it was clear to the Filipino defenders that when conventional defense became untenable, it was necessary to resort to unconventional warfare.” [Chapter IV: Defense of the Philippine South]
So, go ahead and update your succession planning; be ready for Russia-Ukraine war spillover: “Mayroong gulo ‘yan sa Ukraine and Russia. It might – mag-o-overflow ‘yan pagka maggamit ng nuclear na, we are in a serious problem. Kaya ang pagka ganoong magulo, it’s war, we may be dragged into or something might really happen also kasi kasama-kasama ‘yan eh. Now, inyong problema na ‘yan. Nagwa-warning lang ako that things might go overboard itong gulo na ‘yun. Isang pagkakamali diyan, may problema na tayo. Kaya sinabi kong tinawag ko ‘yung PNP pati ‘yung Armed Forces, sinabi ko pagka magulo na, trabaho na ng pulis pati Army ‘yan, the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Be ready for that. Kung hindi mangyari, magpasalamat tayo sa Diyos. ‘Pag pinindot mo ‘yang butones diyan na nuclear, ah magkagulo na lahat.” [Speech of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte at the 43rd Commencement Exercises of the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA) BSPS “Alab Kalis” Class of 2022 delivered at the Campos Grandstand, Camp General Mariano N. Castañeda, Silang, Cavite, 21 April 2022; https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1172684]
We also learn from Prof. Jose’s “Guerrilla Days in the Philippine South” of strange bedfellows: “MacArthur’s chief of intelligence, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-2, was Brig. Gen. Charles A. Willoughby, a career military officer of German descent… He looked with favor on Franco and his Falangistas in Spain and admired Fascists. He made several errors in his estimates of Japanese military strength and capabilities, although that would become clear later in the war.” [Chapter VII: The 10th Military District] In today’s war: Toronto—A report (“Far-Right Group Made its Home in Ukraine’s Major Western Military Training Hub” published by the Institute for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies at George Washington University) found that neo-Nazis and supporters of far-right groups in the ranks bragged online about receiving training from Canada and other NATO nations, prompting promises of a thorough review from the Department of National Defence. It was a group within Ukraine’s National Army Academy (NAA) known as the “Military Order Centuria” or simply “Centuria” and led by those with ties to the internationally active far-right Azov movement, which has attacked anti-fascist demonstrations, city council meetings, media outlets, art exhibitions, foreign student, the LGBTQ2S+ community and Roma people. A 2016 report issued by the Office of the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights details accusations against the Azov movement’s militia (“Azov Battalion”) of torture and other war crimes in the ensuing conflict after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The Ukrainian National Guard later took the Azov Battalion into its ranks. [https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/far-right-extremists-in-ukrainian-military-bragged-about-canadian-training-report-says-1.5631304]
Learn more about WW2, saddle up for WW3.
