Marawi and WWII: Let’s learn the lessons

NOW ANNOUNCE THE TERMINATION OF ALL COMBAT OPERATIONS IN MARAWI,” DEFENSE SECRETARY DELFIN LORENZANA TOLD REPORTERS LAST WEEK ON THE SIDELINES OF THE 11th ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS (ASEAN) DEFENSE MINISTERS MEETING IN CLARK FIELD, PAMPANGA PROVINCE.

HE ADDED: “GOVERNMENT TROOPS PREVAILED IN THE BATTLE FOR CONTROL OF BUILDINGS WHERE THE MAUTE AND ABU SAYYAF TERRORISTS MADE THEIR LAST STAND, WITH OUR TROOPS RECOVERING THE 42 BODIES OF THE LAST GROUP OF TERRORISTS…..” MAINTAINING PEACE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

GEN. EDUARDO AÑO, AFP CHIEF OF STAFF, ALSO SAID THESE ENEMY BODIES WERE FOUND IN TWO BUILDINGS AND A MOSQUE.

He affirmed last 22 October that the group consisted of some 30 terrorists, their wives, and five foreign fighters who made their last stand in buildings next to Lake Lanao.

Maj. Gen. Restituto Padilla Jr., spokesman for the military, confirmed there was still gunfire as of 23 October (Monday), but said there were “no more terrorists” decimated by the loss of their leadership.

Secretary Lorenzana also announced that the last hostages the terrorists had been holding were recovered earlier.

He expressed appreciation to the United States for providing technical intelligence that enabled the Philippine military to defeat the terrorists and regain control of Marawi. “The U.S. gave us images of the enemies,” he said.

Lorenzana also thanked China for donating sniper rifles, which were used in combat against the terrorists.

LORENZANA FINALLY SAID THE MILITARY CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE TERRORISTS IN MARAWI WAS THE PHILIPPINES’ CONTRIBUTION TO MAINTAINING PEACE IN OUR ASIA-PACIFIC REGION. BY THE NUMBERS: MARAWI, 2017

“WHILE WE SUBMIT THAT THESE TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC GAINS WILL NOT ANNIHILATE THE IDEOLOGY COMPLETELY, WE DECLARE THAT THIS ACHIEVEMENT IS CLEAR MANIFESTATION OF HOW OUR REGIONAL COOPERATION CAN LEAD TO DECISIVE ADVANCE AGAINST THE PROLIFERATION OF TERRORISM IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD,” LORENZANA CONCLUDED.

Hundreds of terrorists from the Maute and Abu Sayyaf groups, waving IS group-style black flags and backed by foreign fighters, attacked Marawi starting last 23 May 2017 to carve out an I.S. province in Southeast Asia.

The terrorist “invasion,” which displaced hundreds of thousands of Marawi residents, erupted even as the Philippines this year is hosting high-level meetings of ASEAN, along with the 10-nation bloc of Asian and Western counterparts, including the US, China, and Australia.

IN HER ARTICLE “BY THE NUMBERS” BY KATHLEEN DE VILLA OF INQUIRER RESEARCH 24 OCTOBER 2017) BASED ON OFFICIAL DND-AFP REPORTS, 919 TERRORISTS WERE KILLED; 165 SOLDIERS/POLICEMEN DIED WHILE HUNTING DOWN THE ENEMIES OF OUR COUNTRY; 47 CIVILIANS WERE COLLATERAL CASUALTIES; 1,780 HOSTAGES SEIZED BY THE TERRORISTS WERE RESCUED; AN ESTIMATED 1,700 TROOPS WERE WOUNDED; AND ABOUT 353,921 PEOPLE WERE DISPLACED, ACCORDING TO DSWD. IN ADDITION, 69 EVACUATION CENTERS WERE PUT UP IN THE PROVINCES OF LANAO NORTE AND LANAO SUR; R518M WORTH OF RELIEF ASSISTANCE WERE GIVEN TO THE AFFECTED FAMILIES BY THE DSWD; R 10B IS THE ESTIMATED COST OF REHABILITATION AND REBUILDING, QUOTING DEFENSE SECRETARY LORENZANA; WHILE 70 YEARS IS THE LENGTH OF TIME NEEDED FOR MARAWI TO BE RESTORED TO ITS CONDITION BEFORE THE CONFLICT, ACCORDING TO ARCHITECT/URBAN PLANNER FELINO PALAFOX JR. COMPARISON: MANILA, 1945

IN COMPARISON TO THE ABOVE MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF MARAWI CITY, LET’S LISTEN TO FVR IN HIS KEYNOTE SPEECH DURING THE “MEMORARE” COMMEMORATION OF THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF LIBERATION OF MANILA (14 FEBRUARY 2015), THUS: “THE BATTLE FOR MANILA IN FEBRUARY 1945 WAS UNDISPUTEDLY THE GREATEST TRAGEDY, AND THE WORST MAN-MADE DISASTER, IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY.

Such terrifying impacts on our national life were incalculable: we seemed to be a different country after the WWII Battle of Manila. Physically, our beautiful city was transformed into a stinking, devastated ruin. Because of the numerous youthful lives lost — the ranks of our future Filipino intellectual, political, and economic, leadership were decimated.

For all these tragic but valuable reasons, we must keep alive the memory of that landmark battle for Manila and the larger campaign for the liberation of Luzon starting in January, 1945, with General MacArthur’s landing at Lingayen Gulf in Pangasinan and, above all, let us revere our heroic countrywide guerrilla resistance movement for almost four years.

World War II cost the Philippines over 1.1 million deaths, out of a pre-war population of 17 million or one of the highest per capita casualty rates in the world. It was an excessively high price to pay for our freedom, but it was a price that was worth it, and that was paid for valiantly and unflinchingly.

THIS IS THE PREVIOUS LESSON THAT FILIPINOS TODAY AND ALL OF THOSE OF FUTURE GENERATIONS MUST NEVER FORGET — AND THAT IS: WE FILIPINOS MUST FIGHT AND SACRIFICE FOR OUR LIBERTY AND DEMOCRACY, AND THAT WAR IS NOT AN OPTION! UNITY, SOLIDARITY AND TEAMWORK

IN HIS “MEMORARE” SPEECH, FVR REMINDS US THAT AS A HIGH SCHOOL TEENAGER AND YOUNG SOLDIER IN THE DECADE OF THE 1940s and ‘50s, RAMOS KNOWS FROM FIRST HAND, PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WHEREOF HE SPEAKS:

BUT, WE NEED LEADERS WHO CAN PUT THE INTERESTS OF THE MANY ABOVE THOSE OF THE FEW. WE NEED LEADERS OF VISION WHO SEE TOMORROW’S BRIGHTER POSSIBILITIES — FAR BEYOND TODAY’S POLITICAL DIVISIONS, ECONOMIC CRISES, VIOLENT EXTREMISM AND TERRITORIAL CONFLICTS. WE NEED LEADERS WHO CAN RESTORE HOPE — ESPECIALLY TO THE YOUTH AND THOSE MIRED IN POVERTY — BECAUSE THE CAPACITY TO INSTILL HOPE IS A CRITICAL QUALITY OF LEADERSHIP. OUR VISION OF A BETTER FUTURE

THE VISION OF A BETTER FUTURE FROM WHICH NATIONS AND PEOPLES CAN BENEFIT EQUITABLY — REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL IDEOLOGY, RELIGIOUS FAITH, CULTURAL BACKGROUND, SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITION, AND ETHNIC ORIGIN — IS THE UNCEASING, ULTIMATE ASPIRATION OF ALL. IT IS EVERY COUNTRY’S PERMANENT NATIONAL INTEREST.

That vision, which is the universal hope of humankind should, accordingly, provide strategic guidance to the decisions and policies of today’s leaders and their successors, with each Administration enabled to advance peoples’ quality of life to a higher level. In Proverbs 29:18, God warned the leaders:

We see clearly that the trouble in some communities, corporations, governments and nations today is that leaders are in a hurry to harvest without first planting and nurturing. God’s law of nature mandates:

OUR CURRENT PROBLEMS OF POVERTY, CORRUPTION, VIOLENCE, AND INJUSTICE ARISE OUT OF SOMEONE’S GREED, SELFISHNESS, AND INORDINATE AMBITION. WE PRAY THAT GOD SPARE US FROM THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE THAT STILL PREVAILS IN TOO MANY PLACES — INSTEAD OF THE EQUITY OF OPPORTUNITY TO REACH ONE’S FULL POTENTIAL WHICH IS EVERY PERSON’S RIGHT. GOD’S NEW EARTH, NEW HEAVEN

TO OVERCOME THE CHALLENGES OF MASS POVERTY, ENDEMIC DISEASE, ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION, INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM, NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION, CORRUPTION, AND THE GAP BETWEEN THE “HAVES” AND THE “HAVE-NOTS,” WE NEED LEADERS WHO CAN SEE BEYOND THE GLOOM AND DOOM OF THE MOMENT TO THE BRIGHTER POSSIBILITIES OF THE FUTURE BECAUSE OF THEIR VISIONARY VIRTUES — WITH THE MORAL CONVICTIONS AND SKILLS TO CARRY OUT PAINFUL REFORMS.

GOD HAS ALREADY REVEALED TO ALL OF US, HIS CREATURES, THUS:

AS GOD THE ALMIGHTY HAS PROCLAIMED IN ALL OF THE ABOVE: “WAR IS NOT AN OPTION!!!”