Hoping for Trump’s support

It is heartwarming to see the soldiers and policemen who fought for our country in Marawi City given the heroes’ welcome they deserved. Rightly so, these soldiers and policemen returned to their respective camps with honor parades in the presence of their families and loved ones.

After surviving the Marawi battles, all troopers were honored with homecoming parades by the respective major service commands of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as well as by the Philippine National Police (PNP), and even by the Philippine Coast Guard.

The PNP Special Action Force held theirs inside Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City. This is in contrast to the usual negativity the protectors of our nation, specially our policemen who are all still smarting from the controversial “Oplan Tokhang” all out war against illegal drugs of President Rodrigo Duterte. While indeed there are the proverbial rotten eggs in any basket, we should not also lose focus on the much greater service and sacrifice of the majority of our men in uniform.

One thing good that came out of the battle against the Islamic State (IS)-influenced local terrorists groups in Marawi City is a little improvement in the image of the PNP. The PNP slowly regaining its stature as an institution of men, like the AFP, who know how to die in defense of our people and nation. Our cops really needed a morale booster.

Our cops lay down their lives to fight not only against criminality but also help the military win the war against insurgency and terrorism. This we saw again when our government forces fought together against the Maute and Abu Sayaff terrorists for almost five months to end the IS-inspired siege in Marawi City.

As our military and police fight terrorism, insurgency and criminality, they need a lot of support – not just words of encouragement to morale-boosting parades but most especially the firepower they need to perform their role to keep peace and order.

As ordered last month by their Commander-in-chief, the PNP has stopped its “Oplan Tokhang” and relinquished its drive against illegal drugs to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA).  With this, the PNP can help more the military to fight terrorism – a far greater national security threat we should guard against.

This will really help our police be at a better position to fight criminality, insurgency and terrorism – which all have become threats not just in remote areas but even in urban centers.

The PNP recently tried to purchase 36,000 additional US-made 9mm service pistols and 25,000 M4 rifles, in addition to those already delivered to them during the past administration. But this time, it’s Export Permit being applied with the US Department of State is reportedly stalled. To help our police perform their jobs better, President Duterte could sway his newfound friend US President Donald Trump to help get this going.

The PNP service pistol requirement is on top of the US commitment of $32-million in training and services” that Malacanang announced after former US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Manila in July last year. Former presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella disclosed this aid to the PNP aims “to intensify the police’s law enforcement efforts.”

President Duterte earlier ranted about how the US Congress had derailed the Philippines’ procurement of US-made arms after American democrat congressmen bitterly scored his administration’s bloody anti-drug war, marred by alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and human rights abuses.

At that time, there was no Marawi siege yet. President Duterte’s tirades against then US President Barack Obama over the human rights issues in the Philippines was not helping any to push the gun purchase. Out of spite perhaps, President Duterte ordered the PNP to cancel the firearms purchase.

“Because at that time we were short of arms for the police and we wanted to buy (these) from America but because of the almost equal power of the US Congress and the President, (the procurement) was stymied by the legislators,” President Duterte pointed out.

The need for heavy firearms came to the fore at the height of the Marawi siege when soldiers and policemen were being mowed down by IS-supported Mautes and Abu Sayyaf terrorists sniping at them with their high-powered and long-ranged rifles.

Thus, President Duterte turned to China and Russia for firearms. The Commander-in-chief conceded the AFP and the PNP are partial to US rifles and firearms, being our country’s chief defense ally through these long years since World War II. 

Last month, President Duterte witnessed the turnover of military equipment from Russia, which includes 20 units of multi-purpose vehicles, 5,000 units of AK-74M Kalashnikov assault rifles, one million units of ammunition and 5,000 steel helmets.

Much earlier, China donated 3,000 assault rifles to the AFP. The first batch of assault weapons are currently being used by the PNP’s elite SAF troopers who also fought alongside the military in Marawi City.  

It is now a different story after Mr. Obama stepped down from office in January this year.

Malacanang started getting much friendlier White House calls that came through twice already from President Trump.

President Trump arrived last night in Manila from Vietnam where he and President Duterte attended the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ summit. While in Vietnam, the two leaders who were phone pals before had a brief “Hi” and “Hello” chat at the sidelines of the APEC Leaders’ meeting. Mr. Trump reportedly told President Duterte: “See you in Manila.”  

President Trump flew in on board his Air Force-One plane. Mr.Trump is attending today’s 5th ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations)-US Summit which also coincides with the 40th anniversary of the ASEAN-US Dialogue Relations. The White House earlier announced Mr.Trump decided to extend his stay in Manila a day longer in order to attend also the East Asia Summit (EAS) taking place tomorrow. 

Quietly perhaps, the visit here of President Trump is keeping hopes alive for our men in uniform to support the weapons of their choice to come from the US.