Children's wars

They move with their parents in the hinterlands, so it's inevitable that some of them will want to emulate their elders and take up arms. We've seen their pictures -- boys barely in their teens brandishing rifles, training for battle in the camps of communist rebels and Muslim secessionists. In big rebel camps, there are makeshift schools where these young guerrillas can get some form of education. But these are the exceptions.

Defense and military officials worry not only that such children are being deprived of a normal life, but that they could end up as casualties of war. In guerrilla warfare, there's often little time or opportunity to determine an enemy's age. A bullet does not distinguish between an adult and an adolescent target. And no matter how vicious the insurgency becomes, government troops don't relish killing children.

This week defense and military officials sought the help of the United Nations Children's Fund in getting children out of the line of fire. Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said the military has confirmed that communist rebels have recruited at least 80 children as combatants in recent years. The government is asking Unicef to help cut off foreign funding to Philippine rebel groups that use children as guerrilla fighters. So far there has been no categorical commitment from Unicef.

The recruitment of children for warfare is a problem that goes with the insurgency. Parents belonging to insurgent movements are usually reluctant to live apart from their children, even if it means a violent life constantly on the run. With little else to do, such children serve as lookouts and errand boys in rebel camps. They become guerrilla fighters as soon as they are big enough to carry a gun.

This problem will go away only if the insurgency is wiped out and rebels return to the fold of the law, which is unlikely in the near future. The next best thing is to punish rebel groups that recruit children as fighters. But who will mete the punishment? The only hope lies in the rebels themselves, who should have enough sense not let children fight their wars. Then again, insurgencies have a different perspective of what makes sense.