By Adrian E. Cristobal
IN suspending offensive military operations (SOMO) against the NPA on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. merely obeyed an old tradition of warfare. I still remember the feast days in the provinces when the Huk rebels came down from the mountains and mingled with policemen and soldiers without any mishap. If this is going to happen again in this season of grace, the country will, indeed, be observing the "truce of God."
The truce of God originated in the eleventh century when the Catholic Church restricted the pursuit of private warfare on pain of-excommunication. It was observed on certain days of the week and in 1040 applied to Advent, Lent, Easter, and Christmas; by 1179 the truce was applied throughout Christendom.
Very likely, then, SOMO will be respected by both sides of the ideological divide. But in excluding the Abu Sayaff and the Jemaah Islamiah from the truce, it’s liable to be viewed as a strictly Christian affair.
It would be something, however, if the truce were extended, if only briefly, to "terrorists" in the name of humanity. But that’s probably too much to ask for.
One can’t help noting as well that in approving SOMO President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered, in the same breath, the "defeat or neutralization" of the communist movement. The word choice is unfortunate for communism, either as a movement or a party, is no longer outlawed. It’s been legalized in the last years of martial law.
What’s illegal is the use of armed force against the government, whether communist, fascist, anarchist, or simply mischievous. It’s unlawful to injure and kill people. The only objectionable "movement" is one that sanctions assassination, murder, thievery and rape, whether organized or random.
The ideal, of course, is to observe the truce of God for everybody – from the highest to the lowest, the mightiest and the most powerless – not only briefly but permanently except for crimes of passion which no law can prevent. That kind of truce depends, of course, on the vigorous pursuit of law and order.
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