DND ready to go to war. Will it? Should it?

Many days after China established another unwanted and unauthorized presence in the Philippines' share of the South China Sea, illegally parking more than 200 commercial fishing vessels in the shallows of Julian Felipe Reef well within our 200-kilometer exclusive economic zone, our defense department belatedly put out a press release saying it was ready to defend Philippine sovereignty.

There is no question about the readiness part. It is both its patriotic duty and its assigned job to defend Philippine sovereignty.  But will it? Defending national sovereignty, if I got the DND drift right, means blasting the Chinese ships out of our waters. And that could precipitate war for which the DND needs prior consent of the president, the commander-in-chief. And the commander-in-chief, is not inclined, for good reason, to go to war with China.

Besides, if I am not mistaken, it needs an act of Congress to formally commit Filipino combatants to a real shooting war, something that will place the lives of its citizens and all the public and private assets and resources of the entire nation in jeopardy. That it needs an act of Congress to formally go to war reflects the wisdom of the framers of the Constitution who put that requirement in there.

It is not easy to be caught in a war, even if it is our right to be in one because we have been wronged. We have all seen the ugly images of war as it happens in many places of the world right this very moment. To say that war is a human catastrophy and a tragic folly is an understatement. Ask any of those still alive among us who actually went through it.

And that is why it is a blessing that the president, the commander-in-chief, is someone able to look at the big picture, someone who looks at the end game of war and not just how to jumpstart one. Had Rodrigo Duterte been as gung-ho and full of bluster as some of our countrymen are, we would not now be counting just COVID cases but war losses and casualties, with the difference being there will be no SAP but every man for himself.

Even the DND press release was just bravado. Nobody fears war more than the soldier. For it is his life that is laid first on the line. If he dies in war, he dies alone, away from family whose own security and safety he cannot guarantee. War is a terrible thing. It is easy to fill our breasts with patriotic fervor and say let us kick ass over China. Oh yeah? How about enlisting first in the military.

We now live in a time when war can mean the end of days. Those who are so loud about China and war and stuff ought to look first at those who are truly qualified to go to war. They should learn their lesson from the US, China, and Russia. They should understand why despite their ability and readiness of these three nations to go to war, they actually haven't. And that is because they know how it ends when started.

I can understand how painful it is to just let the Chinese piranha nibble at our toes. But you do not get the piranha by jumping into the water and doing battle. You get your feet out and think of a way to win. War is not the only way to win. In fact it was the Chinese who taught that the sweetest victory is one won without going to war. Let our passions not go to naught. Remember, history is written by the victors.