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29 July 2003
Conflict resolution?
 THE
MAGDALO group, a small group of junior officers in the Armed Forces who
took over part of Makati Sunday, was the first one to deny they were
attempting a coup. Rather, it was their way to air their grievances to
the nation, they said.
It was a costly exercise, especially in terms of the image presented to
the outside world of instability and chaos. For several hours, we were
the lead news item on BBC and CNN, with emphasis on how
"rebels" had taken over the business hub of Metro Manila in
what seemed to be a hostage situation, including, according to BBC,
"the Australian ambassador."
When ABS-CBN Broadcasting's Karen Davila asked the Magdalo
spokes-person, Antonio Trillanes IV, why they couldn't have gone to the
media with their story, he answered, and I'm paraphrasing, "If we
did, we would have gone straight to the stockade, and after that, mass
media would have just dropped our case."
Trillanes was right. After all, their claims -- military collusion with
the rebels through sales of arms, military-instigated bombing incidents
and plans for martial law -- have repeatedly surfaced in the mass media,
even triggering congressional investigations but nothing seemed to have
come out of these expos‚s.
With the Magdalo group, the feeling of urgency was greater, since they
had been to the frontlines, seeing comrades fall in wars they felt were
being prolonged to enrich military and government officials and to keep
politicians in power. Some of the mutineers were members of special
forces, experts at handling explosives so there is irony in the way
these skills had to be used to create a major crisis situation of their
own, just to be heard.
Yet after all's been said and done, I think they were co-opted, once
again a victim of our deficiencies, as a society, when it comes to
conflict resolution. Much will be said about the role of the mutineers'
classmates and "mistahs" (upperclassmen) at the Philippine
Military Academy (PMA) in mediating the crisis at Makati and finally
convincing the Magdalo people to return to their barracks. But what
intrigues me is that if the PMA mistah system is so powerful, why wasn't
it functional when the Magdalo people needed them most, meaning before a
crisis could erupt?
My suspicion is that for all the talk about solidarity among PMA alumni,
it is one based more on subservience to authority and to codes of
silence. Mind you, these norms are pervasive throughout Philippine
society, and we've certainly seen the destructive consequences when used
by the Catholic clergy. But when these codes are imposed within the PMA
and the military establishment, often invoked in the name of "hiya"
(shame), or of protecting national security, the entire nation pays.
Often enough, and I have seen this even in the most "rational"
and "Westernized" institutions here -- large corporations,
universities -- those who dare to challenge incompetence and corruption
are harassed, subjected to the most vicious intrigues. Many will resign
in disgust. Some will retreat into silence, content with their lot in
life, or carving out their own quiet niche. The more opportunistic ones
will also keep silent, but learn to play the game by turning corrupt
themselves and getting their share of the loot.
The Magdalo group, unable to resolve their conflicts, turned to
like-minded classmates from PMA days to try to resolve their conflicts.
But the choice of the name, Magdalo, was ominous, reflecting the
divisions that plagued the Katipunan in 1896. The Magdalo faction was
that of Emilio Aguinaldo, who maneuvered his way to maintain leadership
of a provisional revolutionary government. A relative of Andres
Bonifacio was at the head of Magdiwang faction that lost in the end,
with Bonifacio himself executed in this sectarian conflict.
The 21st-century Magdalo group was too junior to fight for leadership,
although I suspect they were pawns in a power struggle. In the end,
desperate about bringing their case forward, they had to turn to the
mass media in a way they felt would be more effective, via the drama of
a solemn video declaring their withdrawal of support for the government,
and the grand media event at the Glorietta shopping mall in Makati City.
Were the conflicts resolved? I am not saying the mutineers should have
pushed through with their bombs, but really, in the end, they were never
really heard. Plans for a press conference where the mutineers could
present their issues in greater detail eventually fizzled out. There was
one chaotic briefing around 4 p.m., with little impact because of the
bad sound and no video.
All throughout the crisis, politicians and PMA elders appearing on radio
and television kept referring to the Magdalo group as "mga bata"
(kids). In the end, the coup-turned-mutiny-turned-crisis looked more
like a fraternity squabble, with elders finally coming in to crack the
whip.
We have to ask ourselves if our own homes, schools, workplace have
similar situations. We make a fetish of authority and teach our young to
keep quiet rather than to try to argue out an issue. Many will learn it
is wiser to keep their views to themselves. Some will speak out, and
lose, and leave. Still others will learn to lie and to scheme.
When skyscrapers have to be demolished, they are strategically wired
with dynamite for an implosion rather than explosion, the building
caving in. That is what will happen if we continue to allow our social
and political conflicts to simmer. Society can only take so much
battering from within, reaching the point where its psyche is
irreparably damaged. When this happens, there can be an implosion that
will wreak much more havoc and damage than what would have happened in
Makati had the C-4 explosives been set off.
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