There was a time in my life when seeing a policeman gave me some kind of confidence and security of life. There was a time in my life that when we see policemen doing their morning inspection, we would stop and observe them with admiration from afar. There was a time that policemen in the Philippines were highly respected and relied upon.
Whenever we had difficulty in crossing a street, there was the friendly and smiling policeman. When we see people of doubtful intentions, the policeman was the person to call. In times of any difficult situation, call on the police and they would come.
There was a time in my life that the Army is the place to discipline boys. It was actually a dream place for some boys to be in the Military. My brother wanted very much to be in the Military. Good thing when he applied he was only 15 – underage.
There was a time when to have an apparel similar to the uniform of the marines, or the navy, or the ranger sent some pride to the wearer. Army uniforms were fashion statements.
I thought those times would go on forever.
Marcos’s Martial Law changed all those beautiful visions of the police and the military. During that time the whole armed forces was like a menace. Men in uniform were worst than lepers - avoided, feared and ostracized.
The sight of a uniformed man sent quivers to my spine. Pictures of detained women raped by their captors, pictures of the different kinds of torture – electrocution of the testicles, water treatment, cigarette burning of the skin – entered my mind and mental anguish would seep in. This – by just reading the events, what more of the women and men actually treated like that by the military and police right now, as I write?
FEAR was and is the order of the day. COWARDICE was and is heroism. BETRAYAL, DISHONESTY and DECEIT were and are considered virtues.
The Philippine Armed Forces never recovered from the Martial Law syndrome. Allegations of torture, even killings, the armed forces as goons during elections, and unexplained disappearances of members of militant groups are the bread and butter of the Philippine Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police.
When can the Filipino people see a great Armed Force? When can the Filipino people really claim that this armed force is OURS? When can the Filipino people really be PROUD of OUR armed force OUR POLICE? When can we claim that this armed force is on OUR SIDE – the side of the Filipino people? When can we benefit from the taxes we pay to buy their uniforms, their guns and ammunitions and the pay the get to feed their families?
WHEN WILL THAT TIME COME?
