“The budget for
counter-insurgency should not be increased, because we are not sure
whether the money would indeed be used for counter-insurgency. It might
only be used for political killings.”
Ronald Gian Carlo Cardema before his
dismissal from the PMA |
Striking words
these – from a young man who had braced himself for a military
officer’s career all his life.
Ronald Gian Carlo
Cardema, 21, had dreamed of becoming a military officer for as long as
he can remember. “I never imagined myself in any career other than that
of a military officer,” he told Bulatlat in an interview. He
knew about the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) even as a little boy,
and prepared for a military officer’s career early on – taking the
Cadet Officer Candidate Course (COCC) in high school and eventually
becoming corps commander of his Citizens’ Army Training (CAT) batch. He
did the same at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna
(UPLB) and became an officer of the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
(ROTC).
|
A consistent honor
student from grade school, he was a scholar taking up BS Biology –
though he had no plans of becoming a doctor – when he took the PMA
entrance examinations. “The success of an officer is not only measured
by the stars on his uniform, rather it is in harnessing all the means
to use his position and authority to serve his countrymen well, to
inspire his men with good deeds. That’s success,” he wrote as his motto
in one of his forms. He got in, was consistently among the top five of
his class, and should have been in his third year there by now.
Last May, his
uncle Noel “Noli” Capulong – a leader of the Promotion of Church
People’s Response (PCPR), the United Church of Christ in the
Philippines (UCCP), Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic
Alliance), Southern Tagalog Environmental Action Movement (STEAM), and
the Movement of Concerned Citizens for Civil Liberties (MCCCL) – was
gunned down by bonnet-wearing men riding motorcycles near his home in
Calamba City, Laguna.
Ronald was then on
a rest period from the PMA, having been taken ill a few months back. He
asked permission to extend his leave and was allowed to do so, he said.
Grief and anger
drove him to write an open letter condemning his uncle’s slay and other
extra-judicial killings. In it, he revealed that persons he knew as
intelligence agents frequently visited his uncle’s house before the
latter was killed. He would send the letter to all political groups he
knew of – from Left to Right. The letter circulated all over the
Internet.
A few weeks later,
he returned to the PMA – and found himself getting dismissed. The
official reason given for his dismissal was that he went absent without
leave.
Late last month,
he was surprised to find his name on the news – as a “rebel” who had
studied communism in Laguna and gone on to infiltrate the PMA! The
“information” was leaked by sources who remain unknown.
Sen. Rodolfo
Biazon, a PMA graduate and a former Marine commander, took up his case
and offered to help in having him reinstated.
He politely
refused, saying he just wants to get on with life at this point, as a
civilian. Though he remains an avid observer of developments in the
military institution, he has lost all interest in getting another shot
at his aborted military education. He is preparing to get back into
UPLB, but ultimately plans to shift to BA Political Science at UP
Diliman. He now has his sights on a new career prospect: the legal
profession.
Below are excerpts
from his interview with Bulatlat:
What is it
in the military life that fascinated you?
It was the term
“the most noble profession,” referring to the military man’s job, that
struck my mind the most. I saw that soldiers are disciplined, and they
help each other out whenever there are things that need to be done, to
succeed in their plans.
Were you
aware that your Tito Noli was an activist early on?
When I was little,
we didn’t really know of it, of activism. Even when I was in high
school, we didn’t know of it. It was only when I was in college that I
became more aware of activism, through my classmates who were
activists.
About my Tito Noli,
he was quiet at home. He would only speak if you asked him something,
he was that kind of person.
One time I saw him
speak (at a rally) in Calamba, and I saw that he was pushing for his
views for the betterment of the nation. That’s when I realized that he
was an activist.
In the
letter of yours that circulated around the Internet, you said that it
was here at UPLB that you learned patriotism. How did that come to be?
Even when I was in
the ROTC and the said organization is military-based, we were always
aware that we students at the State University have our studies funded
by the people. We are indebted to the people, because our government is
funded by the people. It was thus that I realized that we should be
very patriotic because our studies are really funded by the people, so
we should give back to the people.
It is worth
noting that included in the reading list on your Friendster profile are
the likes of Renato Constantino and the Simbulans (Dante and Roland) –
who are known to have strongly criticized the military at various
instances. What made you interested in their writings?
Dr. Dante Simbulan,
the father of Roland Simbulan, is a PMAer. I read one of his books,
The Modern Principalia, and what he is saying there is very right.
I thought that if PMAers discussed social problems like he does, it
would be good. What’s wrong if military men discuss social problems? He
himself used to be with the military, and was a member of the Corps of
Professors at the PMA at that. I thought, if his views are like that,
it should not be wrong for us to also think critically about our
society.
As for Roland
Simbulan, I saw his
website and it was only
then that I found that he’s the son of Dr. Dante Simbulan. I read his
articles there and they were good – articles on the environment and
other topics. I also know him to be a faculty regent at UP and that
gives his views more weight. You see his position, see that he’s a
regent at UP, you would really look into what he’s saying. His writings
are good.
As for Renato
Constantino, I read his book The Filipinos in the Philippines and
Other Essays. He urged us to place more confidence in ourselves as
a race, taught us that we don’t have to degrade ourselves before
foreigners who should be the ones to adapt to our terms when they visit
the Philippines.
As one who
was able to spend quite some time at the PMA, you must have heard of
the likes of Crispin Tagamolila and what they did during the Marcos
period. What do you think of him and what he did?
I read about
Tagamolila in a book by someone who also used to be a military officer,
retired Navy Capt. Danilo Vizmanos.
I bought the book
because I saw that it was written by someone who went to the U.S. to
study at King’s Point, and afterwards became a navy officer. That was
my first reason for buying the book. I then saw that the book was
dedicated to Lt. Crispin Tagamolila.
I think he was
really patriotic. Captain Vizmanos makes readers like myself realize
that people like Lieutenant Tagamolila who were already officers of the
Armed Forces and were privileged with benefits left the service to go
over to the other side and take to the hills, where they have none of
the privileges and benefits they had as military officers. If you care
for nothing but money, why would you do such a thing?
I realized that
people like him are really patriotic and they cast their lot in defense
of those of our countrymen who suffer. They dedicated their lives just
for that. (In the hills) they make do with little food and distance
from their families. That’s patriotism.
During the
peak of military restiveness, some newspaper columnists branded the PMA
as a “breeding ground of destabilizers,” supposedly because many of
those who have led mutinies were PMA graduates. As a former PMA cadet,
what can you say about this?
It now seems funny
because recently, UP was also branded as a “training ground
destabilizers.” So what’s that – UP and PMA are training grounds for
destabilizers? Three of our cabinet members are from the PMA, if I’m
not mistaken. There are others who are from UP.
We can say such
statements are irresponsible... And I think many of those they call
“destabilizers” may be destabilizing only corrupt officials and are not
really aiming to bring down the government, they may only want change
in the policies of the government.
Talking
about military restiveness, what do you think about the various forms
of protest staged by military men thus far under the Arroyo
administration – from the so-called Magdalo group to the likes of Brig.
Gen. Danilo Lim?
Technically these
are beyond the boundaries of the Constitution, but we all know that
what they are fighting for, their views, their idealism, are correct.
The Constitution does not provide for these types of action, but we
have seen that they didn’t do that to demand money or whatever: they
were demanding benefits not only for themselves but also for their foot
soldiers.
The ones who did
those actions were among the best of the best.
Lt. Senior Grade
Antonio Trillanes IV was the Honor Committee chairman when he was a
cadet at the PMA. He was in charge of maintaining honor in the ranks of
the cadets. Those who joined the Magdalo group were usually among the
top ten in their classes... They were the really battle-tested ones:
most of them are Marines, Scout Rangers, Special Forces – they are the
ones who lay their lives on the line in the battlefield, and they
really realized the problems.
Your Tito
Noli is one of the many, many victims of political killings under the
Arroyo administration. What are your observations on the political
killings?
I don’t really
know who perpetrates the political killings, but these are very
cruel... Those are very inhumane.
My uncle was on
his way home after selling a few baskets of eggs when he was suddenly
gunned down.
Government is
being pointed to as the one responsible for these killings. Even if we
say for the sake of argument that it is not the government that
perpetrates these, at least it should be able to solve these.
If they are really
the ones doing these, (they should realize that) political killings are
useless because the military cannot capture the hearts and minds of the
people (by going on a killing spree). Even if you finish them all off,
all those against the government, you can’t kill off the ideas. Their
views would only make a greater dent on the consciousness of the
people.
The budget for
counter-insurgency should not be increased, because we are not sure
whether the money would indeed be used for counter-insurgency. It might
only be used for political killings.
What do you
think of the “all-out war” declared by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
against the Left?
I don’t think the
government will win it. Because I have read that during the time of
President Ferdinand Marcos, there was already an all-out war, against
the Moros and against the communists. That was Martial Law, and however
much power the military had then, it lost the war. The people they
called “enemies of the state” grew in number and strength. Based on
that experience, I can’t really say whether the government can hope for
victory now.
How do you
see the mistahs you left
behind at the PMA in the next few years? Do you see any reforms coming
for the military as an institution?
I know that the
mistahs I left behind there are good and capable people. I know
they will do what is right, I know they want our country to be peaceful
and the war to stop and the nation to develop.
I know that the
military has established a Grievance Committee to hear out problems
raised by soldiers and that they are building houses for soldiers.
Those are the developments I’ve been hearing about.
I know of many
competent soldiers and officers. They either have left the service or
are in prison. So I don’t know what development there will be for the
military.
Now that you
have decided to just live a civilian life, what career path are you now
thinking of – and why?
I am going through
the process of reinstatement here, and I intend to shift to any pre-law
course and proceed to law school. Before I thought that by being a
soldier I can defend myself and others – the victims of oppression –
through arms. But now that I have lost the chance to bear arms, I think
I can defend those who are oppressed through debate, as a lawyer.
Bulatlat
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