'Total war' in the Philippines
By John Queripel
The mid-mannered Bishop Gabriel Garol is a contrast to the context from which he comes. He is a bishop in the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (a sister church to the Uniting Church in Australia), chairperson of the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, chairperson of the worker and peasant organisation Grassroots Philippines and a member of the Ecumenical Bishops' Forum.
During his recent visit to Australia, he reminded us that the "total war" policy being carried out in his country has led to widespread killings, dislocation and suffering.
This policy, developed with US expertise in conflicts in both Asia and Latin America, goes under different names: "counterinsurgency policy", "limited intensity conflict", "winning hearts and minds" and "psy-war". But it all adds up to a war fought with all means against the people.
Though its waging is officially denied by the Aquino government, its beginnings are seen in the "sword of war" policy unsheathed by Aquino during her speech at the Philippine Military Academy on March 23, 1987. The president claimed that the answer to "terrorism" was not "social and economic reforms but police and military action". That speech marked the end of peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front/New People's Army.
As its name implies, "total war" makes use of all methods. The world is seen as an ideological battleground between "good" and "bad". War rather than peace is seen to be the natural order of things. All criticism is seen in a "them and us" light, as part of a larger conspiracy which must be tackled by military means.
There is widespread use of medical terminology, the state being understood as a healthy body susceptible to attack by tumours, cancers and the like. There can be no negotiations under these terms; the cancer must be surgically removed, even if radical surgery is required.
When the church refuses to go along with the game — both bribes and threats are used in order to convince it — then it can only be on the other side. In 1989 Bishop Garol's church was labelled "a Communist front". Such labelling opens all members to be targets for death or disappearance. The allegation was later withdrawn by the military when it was pointed out that their head, General Fidel Ramos, was a member of the church.
The fighting of this war, as defined by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, involves first a "clearing phase". This involves widespread bombing, strafing and dislocation of villages (hamleting) to isolate the guerillas.
A most horrifying example of this policy, one experienced first hand by Bishop Garol, is the counterinsurgency campaign presently being carried out in the Marag Valley in the northern Philippines. Six battalions of the 501st and 502nd brigades of the AFP, with some 2560 soldiers, are using dive bombers, jet fighters and helicopters to bullets into the valley. More than 1000 indigenous people have been forced to flee their homes to seek protection deep in the forest. Weakened by hunger, many, particularly children, have succumbed to the epidemics that sweep their refuges. What the bombing failed to destroy was put to the torch by ground troops.
The military has consistently refused medical missions access to the area, saying that there are no civilians there, only NPA. These hill people were branded Communist because of their desire to protect their land against illegal loggers.