Seething discontent pervades AFP
Another group of reactionary army officers has emerged and publicly declared its harsh criticism of leading government officials and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) high command.
The group "Kawal Pilipino" (Filipino Soldier) unveiled itself on January 26 at a media conference, expressing its intense disgust. The members assailed the use of the mercenary AFP in reactionary politics and its fractiousness arising from its servitude to rival ruling class political factions.
In particular, they exposed Gloria Arroyo's brazen use of AFP troops and resources for her electoral campaign and to monitor and check the movements of her political rivals. They demanded the resignation of Defense Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who has been appointed chief campaign officer for Arroyo's candidacy.
Kawal Pilipino's expos� is but the latest in a series of open and clandestine, armed and unarmed expressions of opposition by rank-and-file soldiers and junior officers which are symptomatic of the depth and breadth of discontent and fractiousness within the AFP. All of this merely shows the utter decadence and losing course of the reactionary AFP and government amid the desperate and terminal condition of the ruling political and socioeconomic system that they serve.
The government and the AFP high command reacted no differently from the way they did during previous actions taken by soldiers and junior AFP officers. Instead of seriously addressing the basis of the protests, all the government and AFP leadership could think of was to automatically assail, swiftly suppress and haphazardly prosecute those it had identified and taken into custody, threaten the others, and try to continue deceiving the entire military force and the people.
The regime immediately arrested and charged the five junior officers suspected of leading Kawal Pilipino. They are now facing charges of desecrating the Philippine flag because they wrote the word "Kawal" on it. Three of the five arrested officers were also charged before a military court for alleged violations of military discipline. Also implicated in the case of flag desecration are other political opponents of the regime who associated with, and assisted, Kawal Pilipino. One of them is Council for Philippine Affairs (COPA) secretary general Pastor "Boy" Saycon, four opposition leaders and a number of retired military officials.
The regime has also been straining to implicate Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Sen. Loren Legarda. The AFP and Malaca�ang want to make it appear that Kawal Pilipino is merely an instrument of Arroyo's political opponents.
Meanwhile, cases of largescale corruption continue to be uncovered within the AFP. Reports this January showed that high officials of the Department of Defense and the AFP earn over P100 million monthly from the salaries and allowances of 9,000 "ghost soldiers." Up to 7,000 names listed as regular troops and 2,000 names listed as CAFGU elements were exposed as mere concoctions of the DND and AFP. Apart from this, the officials also embezzled the funds for "Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses" allotted for these "ghost soldiers."
In the face of all these developments, cadres and forces of the Party, New People's Army and the revolutionary movement must seriously address and further develop the conduct of revolutionary work within the ranks of the reactionary military. We must strive to convince the many who are ready and qualified, to defect and join the NPA and the revolutionary movement. Others may coordinate with the revolutionary movement, conduct revolutionary work within the reactionary army, or simply desert the rotten, reactionary and fascist military and be prevented from continuously taking part in the AFP's repression and abuse of the people.
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