Send us peacemakers

Over the weekend, an unsigned manifesto supposedly issued by un-named “active members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines” (AFP)” was sent to the chat group of reporters covering the Department of National Defense (DND). It was purportedly an open letter to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) to “vehemently seek the earnest attention of our Commander-in-chief.” As casus belli, they denounced DND Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. whom they blamed for the June 17 incident at the Ayungin Shoal in the West Philippine Sea (WPS).

Teodoro is targeted in this obvious divide and rule campaign for his being the strongest voice defending our sovereign rights at the WPS against the over reaching Beijing’s nine-dash maritime territorial claims at the South China Sea. While the authenticity of the manifesto could not be ascertained yet, the telltale signs are apparently aimed to silence Teodoro. A veteran politician, a lawyer by profession, and a returning Defense Secretary for the second time around, Teodoro is not one who buckles down to nameless and faceless enemies within and outside his circles of expertise.

The narratives in this manifesto painted the Defense Secretary as the culprit behind the latest attack on the Rotation and Resupply (RoRe) operation for the BRP Sierra Madre ditched at the Ayungin Shoal. The moribund battleship of the Philippine Navy, the BRP Sierra Madre serves as a military outpost at the Ayungin Shoal located within our country’s 200 exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the WPS.

In that RoRe mission, several China Coast Guard (CCG) militiamen from eight fastcraft boats and ships boarded one of our two Navy inflatable boats. Armed with axes, knives and bolos, the CCG militia succeeded in destroying one of our Navy inflatable boats. The CCG even tried to blind our WPS defenders using strobe lights. And the worse part of this incident, at least seven new rifles in the RORE were seized while one of our Navy officers lost a thumb.

So why not blame China instead of attacking our Defense Secretary?

Or is it another managed dis-information campaign from the other side? Which side? Your guess is as good as mine.

Meanwhile, un-named retired