Demoralization

The great Filipino hero Jose Rizal once said, “the youth is the hope of the future.” He acknowledges the youth of today will become the doctors, teachers, soldiers, public servants and other professionals of tomorrow. While this is entirely true, let us remember that they will not only be the bright professionals in the workforce but could also become the future carjackers, kidnappers and criminals of our society.

Teenagers sniffing rugby.

This may sound cynical but it is true, especially with the youth-driven crimes that made headlines in the past month. The most recent of which is the murder and suicide involving two boys aged 13-years old and 16-years old. The motive was a strained relationship, which prompted the 13-year old suspect to shoot his 16-year old boyfriend inside a shopping mall in Pampanga before turning the gun to himself.

In Laguna, a 15-year old boy admitted that he raped and slashed the pulse of a woman after he robbed her of her personal belongings. The minor was able to escape to Tarlac using the victim’s car which he had stolen. In Cebu, a 16-year old was behind the heinous murder of his pregnant mother and 5-year old sister. The minor stabbed to death his mother and used a revolver to strike the head of his younger sister. The boy is thought to be a drug user.

Youths are also getting more involved in the drug trade as well. A report from the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) disclosed that a total of 85 minors have been apprehended for violating the illegal drugs law.

Just last month, a 15-year old was found dead and appeared to have been raped in Quezon City. The victim’s body was found in an empty lot believed to be the lair of rugby-sniffing teenage boys. Plastic bags believed to be drug paraphernalia were found at the scene of the crime as well. The most prominent example of drug-related juvenile delinquents are the notorious “bukas-taxi gang” along EDSA highway. This gang of rugby-addicted boys ransack taxis who are stalled along congested traffic along the busy highway.

The level of morality of our youths are on a decline, and if these youths will become the future of our nation as Jose Rizal once said then the future looks bleak. Of course, it is unfair to generalize all youths, but the extreme deterioration of their moral fabric is definitely worth being concerned about.

The blame usually goes to media, particularly violent video games which manage to fall in the hands of teenagers despite an ‘R18′ tag. Television shows displaying inappropriate material and obscene language somehow manages to make their way in mainstream television, giving a bad influence on their teenage viewers. The same goes for obscene music as well. Then there are adult magazines that are made available to all customers as long as retailers make a profit.

Parents are also not exempted from the blame, they are everyone’s first teachers; through parents do children learn their values. If parents were able to fulfil their roles effectively, their children would not stray into a life of crime. The absence of a parental control on television sets is also a factor. In developed countries, most televisions have parental controls wherein parents can lock certain channels or programs in order to prevent their children from viewing them without their consent.

Retailers should also exercise protocol when engaging in trade of adult magazines and other media. The latter should be sold only to people who present an I.D. even if this means losing profit. The same goes for DVDs, retailers should follow the film rating set when selling. In the first world, retailers stand to lose their license and may even be penalized if found guilty of violating film ratings law. It is a strict policy for these countries, it is incredible how it is taken so lightly in the Philippines.

However, influences can only go as far as making a child curious, it is consequences that send a message that what he is doing is wrong. During one attack of the ‘bukas-taxi gang’, seven members were arrested by policemen. The seven all evaded imprisonment as the Juvenile Crime Act mandates all minors to be sent to counselling instead of jail. The same fate would be met by the 15-year old who raped and robbed a woman, or the 16-year old who killed his mom and sister. It doesn’t matter what crime you do or how many times you do it, as long as you are a minor you can walk free out of facing a tough consequence.

This makes teenagers complacent and confident about doing whatever they want. At the same time, it endangers the ordinary citizen as well since they could do anything they want and not be punished for doing so. It comes as no surprise then that the statistic of juvenile delinquents have increased, as the saying goes: “spare the belt and spoil the child.”

The moral fabric of our country is deteriorating, the youths who are suppose to lead the country into a prosperous tomorrow are the ones who are pulling it down instead. This is a sad and concerning reality. Although there is still hope amongst the youths, if legislation and parenthood do not get their acts straight and start to work effectively then that little sparkle of hope may be completely shunned.

Self-Destruction

It is no secret that the strength of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) is no strength at all. An infamous joke is that the PAF is all air and no force; a laughing matter for our regional neighbours but a source of humiliation for the country. It is known to all that the PAF is one of the weakest air forces in the world, with our squadron of aircraft still bearing hand-me-downs from various allies such as the United States and Korea Republic among others.

A Commission on Audit (COA) Aircraft Accident Report covering the last two decades defined the true state of the air force recently. According to the report, a total of 305 pilots have been killed in various types of accidents involving military aircraft over the past 20 years. The number is indeed alarming, the casualties involved are not even from the battlefield. Equipment and hardware is supposed to give soldiers protection and adequate firepower to perform their tasks to the best of their abilities, the opposite however, happens in the Philippines.

An OV-10 bronco, one of the last remaining attack planes of the PAF, crashes on an open field in 2006. Photo from www.aviationspectator.com

The report further states that the main culprit was ‘wear and tear’. The aircrafts the pilots were flying were barely airworthy or flyable, these led to mechanical and engine problems. The figure of casualties only cover the pilots and do not include soldiers or civilians who were also in the aircraft. The number of pilots killed would have been enough to form six US standard squadrons which is 16 fighter aircrafts per squadron. In other words, for every aircraft accident three pilots are killed.

Calls for modernization are abundant, the sad thing is that nothing ever comes to fruition. This is no surprise though since the Department of National Defense (DND) has been cited as one of the most corrupt departments in the country. Much-needed funds that are allocated for modernization are siphoned off into the pockets of generals and other high-ranking officials in the military. These officials take a non-combat role and are based in the capital but enjoy a lavish lifestyle, while front-line soldiers have to deal with a meagre salary, worn-out combat gear and misfiring weapons.

The air force is also in need of trainer jets, which are essential to train new pilots or to up the skills of existing airmen. The PAF hold dozens in its inventory but are ageing and are likely to add to the statistics of fallen pilots. In fact, the trainer jets have been dubbed the “widow makers of the air force”.

It has been fifteen years since the passage of the “Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Program” or Republic Act 7898. If everything went according to plan, the air force is due of its’ “Horizon II” phase where acquisition of equipment for external defense  is mandated. Horizon II is targeted to begin in 2010, a year after the intended timeframe the air force still does not have a multi-role fighter jet. The only major recent acquisition made by the PAF is the purchase of eight W-3 Sokol helicopters for combat utility in 2009, the final year of “Horizon I” or the internal security acquisition phase of the air force.

Drastic reforms are truly needed by the air force. Pilots are getting tired of the lousy handling of the government to improve their equipment and it will be no surprise if the trend of air force pilots leaving the service to take up higher-paying jobs in the private sector or abroad will continue to increase. This will cause further deterioration of the PAF’s abilities and the nation’s capability to defend itself will continue to weaken. This is called self-destruction.

If the PNoy administration is serious of its mantra of taking the “straight path”, it should prove itself by taking a serious approach to meet the needs of national security before it self-destructs. Modernization is badly needed, it may not be long before we see another pilot go down with his aircraft.

Ten Years On

Today, the world marks the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. The deliberate strikes on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Virginia were carried out clandestinely by Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. The barbaric acts of terror claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent civilians; they include parents, siblings and co-workers who would forever be missed by their loved ones.

A period of mourning would then be replaced by an era of hatred, feelings of sorrow would be replaced by the longing for vengeance . After the culprits became public knowledge, anger was directed at terrorism and the worldwide campaign to eradicate terrorists was promulgated. Aimed at making the world a safer place, global superpowers joined forces to crush terrorist factions in Afghanistan and Iraq. But ten years on, has the world really become a safer place? Has terrorism been debilitated, more-so put to a stop?

The infamous image of the World Trade Center attacks in 2001.

Ten years on, the threat of terrorism is as real as it was before. Although Osama Bin Laden has already been killed, the lives of thousands of Americans lost in the 9/11 attacks are yet to be vindicated. And how could we say otherwise when the threat of terrorism looms almost every year in the U.S.? On Christmas Day 2009, suspected Al-Qaeda member Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab planned to take down Northwestern Airlines Flight 253 en route to Detroit, Michigan from Amsterdam using plastic explosives sewn to his underwear. Umar’s plans didn’t come to fruition after being apprehended by fellow passengers on the flight. Americans are also suffering from travel restrictions as they are prime targets of terrorist crimes all over the world.

The United States’ campaign in Iraq has stretched for almost eight years but an end is nowhere to be seen, at the same time their mission in Afghanistan is far from being accomplished as well. The United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Canada, the rest of the North Alliance Treaty Organization and several non-NATO and U.S. allies have also taken part in their conquest and because of this they have paid for their participation.

In July 2005, 56 people perished in the London train bombings in the United Kingdom. A year earlier, 191 people were killed also from train bombings in Madrid, Spain. Two years beforehand over 202 people, over 88 of them were Australians and most of them tourists, were killed in car bombings in Bali, Indonesia. The Beslan School Siege in Russia, carried out in 2004 by Chechen separatists, took the lives of 334 victims but most of them were casualties of a botched rescue attempt by Russian special forces soldiers and the inadequate medical facilities available in the small city of Beslan. The booming city of Mumbai in India have been devastated as well by two major terrorist attacks. First the 2006 train bombings which took the lives of 209 people and then the 2008 hotel bombings which left 175 people dead.

Victims lie on the railway tracks during the 2004 Madrid train bombings.

The carnage during the 2005 London Bombings.

In the Philippines, we are no strangers to terrorism. The worst terrorist attack on Filipino civilians happened in 2004 during the Super Ferry 15 bombings which killed 118 people. At the same time, the country also has several Islamic separatist factions lurking in the South such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Indonesian faction Jemaah Islamiyah, communist New People’s Army and the notorious Abu Sayaff. The latter made worldwide headlines when the group kidnapped tourists from the island of Sipadan, Malaysia in 2000.

The war against terrorism is far from being won, and as the days go by more and more civilians and soldiers get killed in the fighting in terrorist hotspots such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. This means that more families will lose their loved ones in the fighting. There will be more empty seats in the dinner table for most households. There will be more grieving and sympathy amongst all people. And most of all, there will be more fighting and hatred towards people of different ethnicities and religions.

The question that comes to mind is one that is echoed throughout the people who have lost their loved ones, throughout the residents living inside the warzone: “when will all of this end?” When will the guns be silenced? When will the bloodshed stop? Is it really through war that we can attain peace?

Ten years on, the answer remains unknown to all. The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, Mindanao and the like shows no signs of slowing down; in fact, it is as active as it always was. Support for the war on terror is slowly diminishing, with most global leaders growing tired of the fighting in the Middle East. There has also been calls in the U.S. to end the war in Iraq and to send their troops home. At the same time, more youths are enlisting themselves in terrorist networks worldwide and eliminating terrorist commanders render useless as they can easily be replaced. The clamor of the world is still the same: stop terrorism and apprehend its’ sympathizers. The response however, continues to be an enigma.

Ten years after 9/11 terrorism is yet to be stopped, instead it is as strong as it ever was.