The Philippine Online Chronicles

Authors note: The days draw nearer, and I grow sadder. As of this writing, there are only 1xx days before the end of our beloved President’s term. This is the Countdown to Stepdown: It’s like a Christmas countdown, only sadder.

Recently, the military has flexed its muscles yet again as they detained and then allegedly tortured 43 health workers whom they suspected to be members of the New People’s Army.

I applaud this move. Truly, the Armed Forces of the Philippines are showing that they are made of stern stuff. They are taking a hardline stance against terrorism, and I have said in the past, only two things frighten me: terrorism, and Rick Astley.

That the AFP acted upon their gut and detained these health workers, even procuring a confession from a few of them shows that truthiness is a guiding principle that all of us can live by. They keep us safe from terrorists. They make sure we don’t have to worry about these people.

Nation, we are fine with civil liberties being given up, for the sake of national security. And so long as it doesn’t happen to us.

If someone were to be arrested for being suspected for being a terrorist, if he were to be denied his rights to a lawyer, to be blindfolded and to be tortured, to be denied proper presentation to the Court of Appeals, to have the military defy the Supreme Court itself, how is this a problem so long as it doesn’t happen to us? This is precisely what makes this nation great: the power of democracy at work.

As a patriotic Filipino, I am all in favour of removing civil liberties in aid of making a stronger republic, as long as they don’t do it to me as well. This is the culture of calm and serenity our government has instilled in us. We know that any perceived abuses critics may levy against our government are, in reality, steps taken for the betterment of our nation. You see, my conscience is clean because I’m one of the good guys. I am all for supporting the government and drinking our beloved president’s Kool-Aid. I believe that the military is intelligent and capable enough of weeding out who the bad guys really are. They have the track record for doing this impeccably, after all.

We are still currently in a standoff as bleeding hearts are trying to ask the military to respect the rights of these 43 terrorists. We do not need a trial to know that they are guilty since one of them already confessed to wrongdoing in the middle of torture sessions.

Let us stop pointing fingers at the AFP. As far as accusing the AFP of any wrongdoing, let us not be hasty and always remember that these soldiers have their rights and are innocent until proven guilty.

We keep on demanding to know the truth behind what happened in Morong and what happened to these health workers/terrorists. We believe we’re entitled to know the truth, but you know what? We can’t handle the truth!

Nation, we live in a world with walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? Me? You? The AFP have a greater responsibility than we could possibly fathom.

We weep for these terrorists, and we curse the armed forces. We have that luxury. We have that luxury of not knowing what they know: that the arrest and probable torture of these workers, while tragic, probably saved lives. And the AFP’s existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to us, saves lives. We don’t want the truth because deep down in places we don’t talk about at parties, we want them on that wall. We need them on that wall. They use words like honor, code, and loyalty. They use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something.

Everyone else uses these words as a punchline. They have neither the time nor the inclination to explain themselves to a nation that rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that they provide and then questions the manner in which they provide it. They would rather we just said “thank you,” and went on our way. Either way, the AFP doesn’t give a damn what we think we’re entitled to. And that’s a good thing to expect from the arm of the government that is sworn to protect us, right? Right?

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The views presented in this article are not necessarily shared by those of the POC, Col. Nathan Jessep [whose monologue in "A Few Good Men" is liberally paraphrased in the last few paragraphs of this article], Mike Unson [who famously recites the monologue from memory when he does standup comedy, albeit serving the basis for inspiration for this article], or even the author himself.)

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