Part One.
RETHINKING, REDEFINING THE MISSION
It is the PNP Directorate for Plans, specifically its Inter-Agency and International Affairs Division, which arranges Filipino police deployments to overseas peace support and humanitarian operations.
This office –being at once a repository of international-peacekeeper records, the chair and secretariat of the selection board, and the hub of mission-related communications to and from the police regional offices and abroad– is thus expected to analyze available data and make solid recommendations pertaining to the future of the PNP Contingent. Its existence is only a bit older than the Global Pulisya itself, but as much wanting to be apace with demands of the times.
There runs a list of personal views given by those who had had the privilege of coordinating and supervising the entire deployment process: on efficient, on-time, to-the-last-beat-patrol-officer-in-the-remotest-barangay transmittal of calls for applications; recruitment system, perhaps including the screening of selection-board members; pre-departure orientation and training; securing of administrative clearances and travel documents; handling of required baggage, particularly firepower in armed missions; objectivity in geographic- and gender-balancing, rotating and re-upping peacekeepers; management of contingent affairs, especially the imposition of periodic reports to PNP National Headquarters.
Homecoming assignments are another bristly matter.
As for a basic and crisp official statement, it’s an answer to the following questions:
Is the PNP Contingent a mere token force to make good on an intergovernmental commitment, putting in mind the large peace and order demands on the home front?
Or is it to be maintained as a substantive international deployment, given the multilateral benefits and the PNP’s take on globalization? If so, how many (wo)man-hours can the Philippines afford to share with the more needy nations at a time? And how many (wo)man-hours of honest-to-goodness, strictly enforced reentry immersion on the Philippine policingscape are deemed necessary?
Toward what vision and overall structure does the series of overseas-deployment initiatives lead?
What are the safeguards against callousness, inefficiency, and senseless delays in carrying out pre- and post-mission programs, considering that both the world and the Filipino people do not have the luxury of time awaiting the final (and executory) decision of a top-notch police-contributing country?
The PNP Contingent can always use some guidance on implementing the spanking, clear-cut policy that governs the institutional stand on this endeavor. It can always be made accountable for lapses in judgment.
Part Two.
REWORKING, REFINING THE MINDSET
The one personal opinion that lingers is for PNP National Headquarters, specifically the Directorate for Personnel and Records Management that processes contingent reentry, to encourage the local application of invaluable inputs from returning seconded personnel.
Two reasons:
First, the PNP Contingent, coming under the operational command of the UN (in thirteen, out of fifteen overseas assistance missions, within sixteen years), reflects universal standards on human rights norms and basic democratic values, as well as on responsive and responsible policing.
Almost everyone has heard about stock-discipline talk, but not so many have paid attention to the fact the PNP Contingent was never subjected to dishonorable repatriation due to street-level extortion or headquarters-level corruption. Out there, the Filipino police had no involvement whatsoever in illicit power structures, if any.
The UN’s rules are too stiff to be bent and too tightly packaged to even make room for quiet internal agreements that defeat the purpose of transparency.
Second, the PNP Contingent as flesh to several UN peacekeeping visions has mastered the transfer of elementary criminological techniques, all coherent and widely accepted –having vetted and certified, mentored and monitored, molded and seasoned, the law enforcement authorities of Cambodia, Haïti, Timor-Leste, Liberia, Afghanistan, the Sudan, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nepal. It even took part in the constitution and subsequent staffing of the Kosovar police service.
On a very typical day in Cambodia, circa 1992-93, a Filipino UN CivPol (Civilian Police, as the UN Police of long ago were called) would be seen training scores of Cambodian police. A less-than- ordinary occasion would witness two or three PNP officers training hundreds of locals on public safety and area security, and teaching women and children the English language afterward.
There was this extraordinary episode during the mission where a PNP officer gathered members and sympathizers of the four warring factions (yes, including the dreaded Khmer Rouge). By exercising patience, he was able to put these former archenemies together under one barracks-roof, and reorient their ideology toward the one embraced by the legitimate outfit.
The treasure-trove of stories speaks of the PNP Contingent’s rich experience in breathing life into plans and programs on establishing the rule of law, and on introducing necessary policing skills to the law enforcement agencies that had stagnated because of protracted internal conflicts.
Empowering the Global Pulisya’s men- and women-in-uniform, therefore, is a sensible way to welcome dynamism within the PNP –at not much cost. After all, these personnel were once the PNP’s eyes and ears out there in the world beyond the country’s borders.
All it takes is a little more post-mission assessment of performance and acquired capabilities. Additionally, it should be incumbent on all the offices involved to clearly state to members of the PNP Contingent that giving back to their own organization is not an excruciatingly painful obligation. Rather, it is a fine opportunity to redress systematic faults that arrest intra-institutional growth.
30 December 2007
25 December 2007
011 ~ Global Pulisya Christmases
SPECIAL RELEASE
The PNP Contingent’s first overseas celebration of that time of year was in the former Indochina, in 1992. It was in a festive mood, passing the occasion with comrades from the Philippine Marines.
Its first differently spent Christmastide was in the Balkans, in 1999, under temperate-climate conditions that seemed ruthless for sons of the tropics, nearly two dozens of them. Kosovo’s power infrastructure had been razed by the ethnic wars and the succeeding bombardment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Operation Joint Guardian.
For the Filipino police, that translated to no electricity for heaters so they had to stock up on wood in their accommodations for burning throughout the long nights of winter. That also meant having to take turns in dozing off, so there would be somebody to tend the fire.
Mornings at work, the Filipino police layered their garments to trap warm air, and shield them from the subzero temperature. They made sure to keep themselves breathing and kicking as they performed the full law enforcement functions required of the UN’s pilot executive mission. The duties included perfecting their winter-driving skills, including the utilization of traction devices against slippery roads toward patrol and community assistance sorties. Brr!
It was in 2003 when the Filipino police first spent the Holidays in the desert, having been flown into the Middle East as a humanitarian contribution to the people of Iraq. The spell was a lot less frigid, but it was cool enough for the boys to require snug coats.
The scenario was a far shiver from that in the Sudan, in 2005, where the first Filipino officers could afford sweating a fifteen-kilometer jog on dry and sandy trails within their encampment. For Yuletide supper, they partook of modest servings of instant Lucky Me pancit canton noodles and 555 sardines –the unofficial MREs, meals (almost) ready to eat, brought in from the Philippines. It was humbled by the Season’s fares on the tables for Liberia and new-millennium Haïti, which both enjoyed scrumptious cuisine à la Philippine military.
There is always something unique about each Christmas season celebrated by the PNP Contingent. The overseas-mission environments differ from one another, and so are the degrees of merrymaking, the degrees in temperature, the dishes (or the heartrending lack of it), the company.
What remained constant was the act of spreading and reaping good cheer, and that these police officers enjoyed the extra-high spirits.
The PNP Contingent’s first overseas celebration of that time of year was in the former Indochina, in 1992. It was in a festive mood, passing the occasion with comrades from the Philippine Marines.
Its first differently spent Christmastide was in the Balkans, in 1999, under temperate-climate conditions that seemed ruthless for sons of the tropics, nearly two dozens of them. Kosovo’s power infrastructure had been razed by the ethnic wars and the succeeding bombardment by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s Operation Joint Guardian.
For the Filipino police, that translated to no electricity for heaters so they had to stock up on wood in their accommodations for burning throughout the long nights of winter. That also meant having to take turns in dozing off, so there would be somebody to tend the fire.
Mornings at work, the Filipino police layered their garments to trap warm air, and shield them from the subzero temperature. They made sure to keep themselves breathing and kicking as they performed the full law enforcement functions required of the UN’s pilot executive mission. The duties included perfecting their winter-driving skills, including the utilization of traction devices against slippery roads toward patrol and community assistance sorties. Brr!
It was in 2003 when the Filipino police first spent the Holidays in the desert, having been flown into the Middle East as a humanitarian contribution to the people of Iraq. The spell was a lot less frigid, but it was cool enough for the boys to require snug coats.
The scenario was a far shiver from that in the Sudan, in 2005, where the first Filipino officers could afford sweating a fifteen-kilometer jog on dry and sandy trails within their encampment. For Yuletide supper, they partook of modest servings of instant Lucky Me pancit canton noodles and 555 sardines –the unofficial MREs, meals (almost) ready to eat, brought in from the Philippines. It was humbled by the Season’s fares on the tables for Liberia and new-millennium Haïti, which both enjoyed scrumptious cuisine à la Philippine military.
There is always something unique about each Christmas season celebrated by the PNP Contingent. The overseas-mission environments differ from one another, and so are the degrees of merrymaking, the degrees in temperature, the dishes (or the heartrending lack of it), the company.
What remained constant was the act of spreading and reaping good cheer, and that these police officers enjoyed the extra-high spirits.
15 December 2007
010 ~ Great Tidings Once Brought
Fifty-seven Christmases ago, members of PEFTOK, the Philippine Expeditionary Forces to Korea, were weathering the Global Kawal’s first winter battlefield. The “wonderland” adventure was not as much of dodging shrapnel as of doing away with frostbite.
The PEFTOK contingent serving at the time was the 10th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Army, initially under the command of Colonel Mariano C Azurin. He would be replaced by an equally competent officer (Colonel Dionisio S Ojeda) –but not for inefficiency in leading the UN Command (UNC) in Korea’s fourth largest contingent, and the sole complement heavily trained in combat operations versus communist guerillas.
The Filipino colonel’s issue was pounding on the commander of his attaching unit, a US Army regiment, for nothing else but ensuring the timely delivery of soldier provisions, especially the appropriate gear against the harsh elements. That winter, the peninsula’s coldest in 200 years, the 1,400-man component suffered the very irresponsible supply omission by the hierarchy. On top of the chilblain affliction, PEFTOK was shattered into companies that were subsequently deployed far apart from one another.
The 10th BCT was tided over by the shipment of clothing coming from the Philippines, donated by gracious countrymen and collected through drives by civic organizations and the government of president and Armed Forces of the Philippines commander in chief Elpidio R Quirino. (The multinational force’s official garment allocation for PEFTOK arrived somehow, after an excruciating amount of time.)
Actually, the crisis had arisen and was resolved before the turn of Yuletide, so that the men were already jollier good fellows during their merriment in Suwon, the battalion’s new sector of responsibility. They were back on the high morale level that could make them hold the line despite the ugly odds they were made to face.
It was a clever UNC decision.
That year-ender week toward 1951, the Filipino contingent had braced up enough for the enemy’s surprise attack on New Year’s Eve. The 10th BCT was reinforcing the defense lines when the communists attempted an encroachment on South Korea for the second time since the war began. Afterward, it embarked on its long and dangerous northward quest for a place on the front line, along the 38th Parallel.
To be emphatic about it, the cleverness in decision-making (which might or might not be influenced by the spirit of Christmas) had PEFTOK’s synergy outlasting the season. The well-gelled contingent survived the succeeding battles, mainly the Battle of Yultong, fought during the “Great Spring Offensive” launched by a new 250,000-strong wave of pro-North Korean fighters.
The 10th BCT was rotated when the summer was winding down. It brought home the glory of being revered by the UNC as “The Fighting Tenth” for its unquestionable, distinguished bravery. It was dearly remembered for securing extreme positions, charging at major enemy emplacements, and even for selflessly getting in hostile crosshairs to extract beleaguered battalions* of the friendly forces.
===
*After performing its main task in the Battle of Yultong, the 10th BCT endeavored to rescue the British forces’ Gloucestershire Battalion pinned down by three army divisions of the pro-North Korean People’s Republic of China. Five Filipinos were killed in that specific mission, bringing to fifteen the total number of PEFTOK deaths within the 48-hour encounter.
- Global Kawal, The Working Historiography, ©2007
[By courtesy, AFP Peacekeeping Operations Center.]
The PEFTOK contingent serving at the time was the 10th Battalion Combat Team (BCT) of the Philippine Army, initially under the command of Colonel Mariano C Azurin. He would be replaced by an equally competent officer (Colonel Dionisio S Ojeda) –but not for inefficiency in leading the UN Command (UNC) in Korea’s fourth largest contingent, and the sole complement heavily trained in combat operations versus communist guerillas.
The Filipino colonel’s issue was pounding on the commander of his attaching unit, a US Army regiment, for nothing else but ensuring the timely delivery of soldier provisions, especially the appropriate gear against the harsh elements. That winter, the peninsula’s coldest in 200 years, the 1,400-man component suffered the very irresponsible supply omission by the hierarchy. On top of the chilblain affliction, PEFTOK was shattered into companies that were subsequently deployed far apart from one another.
The 10th BCT was tided over by the shipment of clothing coming from the Philippines, donated by gracious countrymen and collected through drives by civic organizations and the government of president and Armed Forces of the Philippines commander in chief Elpidio R Quirino. (The multinational force’s official garment allocation for PEFTOK arrived somehow, after an excruciating amount of time.)
Actually, the crisis had arisen and was resolved before the turn of Yuletide, so that the men were already jollier good fellows during their merriment in Suwon, the battalion’s new sector of responsibility. They were back on the high morale level that could make them hold the line despite the ugly odds they were made to face.
It was a clever UNC decision.
That year-ender week toward 1951, the Filipino contingent had braced up enough for the enemy’s surprise attack on New Year’s Eve. The 10th BCT was reinforcing the defense lines when the communists attempted an encroachment on South Korea for the second time since the war began. Afterward, it embarked on its long and dangerous northward quest for a place on the front line, along the 38th Parallel.
To be emphatic about it, the cleverness in decision-making (which might or might not be influenced by the spirit of Christmas) had PEFTOK’s synergy outlasting the season. The well-gelled contingent survived the succeeding battles, mainly the Battle of Yultong, fought during the “Great Spring Offensive” launched by a new 250,000-strong wave of pro-North Korean fighters.
The 10th BCT was rotated when the summer was winding down. It brought home the glory of being revered by the UNC as “The Fighting Tenth” for its unquestionable, distinguished bravery. It was dearly remembered for securing extreme positions, charging at major enemy emplacements, and even for selflessly getting in hostile crosshairs to extract beleaguered battalions* of the friendly forces.
===
*After performing its main task in the Battle of Yultong, the 10th BCT endeavored to rescue the British forces’ Gloucestershire Battalion pinned down by three army divisions of the pro-North Korean People’s Republic of China. Five Filipinos were killed in that specific mission, bringing to fifteen the total number of PEFTOK deaths within the 48-hour encounter.
- Global Kawal, The Working Historiography, ©2007
[By courtesy, AFP Peacekeeping Operations Center.]
10 December 2007
009 ~ The Stars They Are
SPECIAL RELEASE
Fifty-nine years ago, on 10 December 1948, UN member-states including the Philippines adopted and proclaimed UN General Assembly resolution 217A(III), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Seventy-two days ago, on 29 September when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo installed the new PNP chief, unconditional vanguardism of the people against human rights abuse was imposed on the Filipino police outfit.
The PNP should be in good hands, with several of its top-brass officers having had extra exposure on the repercussions of the world’s most gruesome wholesale violations against persons. It could seek the good advice of active one-, two-, or three-star police generals whose personal data sheets detail participation in international-peacekeeping affairs.
There are, in alphabetical order, UN Blue Berets Charlemagne S Alejandrino, Emmanuel R Carta, Raul S Gonzales, Renato DF Heredia, Ronald D Roderos, and Samson R Tucay; and post-Operation Iraqi Freedom multinational-force element Sukarno G Ikbala.
Or it could ask for guidance from retired Police Chief Superintendent Jose O Dalumpines, the PNP Contingent’s first-ever commander. He holds the distinction of shepherding the Filipino police in two different mission areas (Cambodia and Haïti), in three successive operations (UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, US-led Joint Task Force 190’s Operation Uphold Democracy in Haïti, and UN Mission in Haïti).
Actually, the work of these esteemed gentlemen was to help clean up the genocidal mess in Cambodia, the cutthroat chaos in Haïti, the slash-and-burn disarray in East Timor, and the after-intervention anomie in Iraq. Having done any one of these, though within a limited timeframe, they must know a great deal about the length and width, the depth and breadth of the conflicts that spouted opportunities to inflict acute –if not fatal– physical, mental, emotional, and socio-economic torment on populations.
As the world turns, the Philippines is given the close watch for the systematic curtailment of civil liberties. This should never be the case in a democracy-hoisting society, especially one that front-lined in sounding the universal clarion call to uphold the fundamental freedoms of the animal kingdom’s wisest and most intelligent species.
Granting that the Philippines does not actually host as much barbarity and ruthlessness as olden-times Cambodia, Haïti, East Timor, or Iraq, she has been classified as carrying the propensity. Sadly.
Gladly, the Philippines and her people can lean on a law enforcement agency of thinkers and doers with a solid background in transparency- and democratic-policing, to ponder then pursue sustainable courses of action on this account.
It’s a doable thing, sparing the nation from harsher large-scale external observation and criticism. It’s not impossible either to get into fully recognizing the human being’s inherent dignity, and his or her equal inalienable rights.
Counted and used wisely, blessings on hand can be optimized. This thought needs retelling time and again.
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SHINING THROUGH. Retired Police Chief Superintendent Dalumpines (left) is joined by his subordinates in command of the PNP's first international peace support operation, during the PNP Peacekeeping Force to Cambodia Association's annual general assembly in 2006 (second from left, to right): Carta (now Police Director), Alejandrino (now Police Director), and Roderos (now Police Chief Superintendent).
[Photo by courtesy, PNP Public Information Office.]
Fifty-nine years ago, on 10 December 1948, UN member-states including the Philippines adopted and proclaimed UN General Assembly resolution 217A(III), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Seventy-two days ago, on 29 September when President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo installed the new PNP chief, unconditional vanguardism of the people against human rights abuse was imposed on the Filipino police outfit.
The PNP should be in good hands, with several of its top-brass officers having had extra exposure on the repercussions of the world’s most gruesome wholesale violations against persons. It could seek the good advice of active one-, two-, or three-star police generals whose personal data sheets detail participation in international-peacekeeping affairs.
There are, in alphabetical order, UN Blue Berets Charlemagne S Alejandrino, Emmanuel R Carta, Raul S Gonzales, Renato DF Heredia, Ronald D Roderos, and Samson R Tucay; and post-Operation Iraqi Freedom multinational-force element Sukarno G Ikbala.
Or it could ask for guidance from retired Police Chief Superintendent Jose O Dalumpines, the PNP Contingent’s first-ever commander. He holds the distinction of shepherding the Filipino police in two different mission areas (Cambodia and Haïti), in three successive operations (UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia, US-led Joint Task Force 190’s Operation Uphold Democracy in Haïti, and UN Mission in Haïti).
Actually, the work of these esteemed gentlemen was to help clean up the genocidal mess in Cambodia, the cutthroat chaos in Haïti, the slash-and-burn disarray in East Timor, and the after-intervention anomie in Iraq. Having done any one of these, though within a limited timeframe, they must know a great deal about the length and width, the depth and breadth of the conflicts that spouted opportunities to inflict acute –if not fatal– physical, mental, emotional, and socio-economic torment on populations.
As the world turns, the Philippines is given the close watch for the systematic curtailment of civil liberties. This should never be the case in a democracy-hoisting society, especially one that front-lined in sounding the universal clarion call to uphold the fundamental freedoms of the animal kingdom’s wisest and most intelligent species.
Granting that the Philippines does not actually host as much barbarity and ruthlessness as olden-times Cambodia, Haïti, East Timor, or Iraq, she has been classified as carrying the propensity. Sadly.
Gladly, the Philippines and her people can lean on a law enforcement agency of thinkers and doers with a solid background in transparency- and democratic-policing, to ponder then pursue sustainable courses of action on this account.
It’s a doable thing, sparing the nation from harsher large-scale external observation and criticism. It’s not impossible either to get into fully recognizing the human being’s inherent dignity, and his or her equal inalienable rights.
Counted and used wisely, blessings on hand can be optimized. This thought needs retelling time and again.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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SHINING THROUGH. Retired Police Chief Superintendent Dalumpines (left) is joined by his subordinates in command of the PNP's first international peace support operation, during the PNP Peacekeeping Force to Cambodia Association's annual general assembly in 2006 (second from left, to right): Carta (now Police Director), Alejandrino (now Police Director), and Roderos (now Police Chief Superintendent).
[Photo by courtesy, PNP Public Information Office.]
30 November 2007
008 ~ The Peace Offensive
The 30th of November is designated as the Filipino people’s day for honoring compatriot Andres Bonifacio, the bolo-brandishing hero of yore, who put life and limb on the line to the cause of Motherland’s independence, sovereignty, sobriety, and preservation.
There should also be a 24-hour nationwide observance of the Philippines' standard bearers who fleshed out Motherland’s contributions to international peace and regional stability, they who would attack the problem wielding nothing but the proverbial peace pipe, and a non-hostile solution.
There’s the register that contains the names of more than a thousand PNP international contingent-members who have endured some of the world’s worst crises with maximum tolerance. [Please refer to the Contingent Roll in the main website.]
Here’s an enumeration of the host areas attended by the PNP Contingent:
CAMBODIA (1992-93)
- UNTAC, the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia
HAÏTI (1994-95; 2004-present)
- Operation Uphold Democracy in Haïti
- UNMIH, the UN Mission in Haïti
- MINUSTAH, la Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti
TIMOR-LESTE (1999-present)
- UNAMET, the UN Mission in East Timor
- UNTAET, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
- UNMISET, the UN Mission of Support in Timor-Leste
- UNOTIL, the UN Office in Timor-Leste
- UNMIT*, the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste
KOSOVO (1999-present)
- UNMIK, the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo
IRAQ (2003-04)
- PHCI, the Philippine Humanitarian Contingent to Iraq
LIBERIA (2004-present)
- UNMIL, the UN Mission in Liberia
AFGHANISTAN (2004-present)
- UNAMA, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
SUDAN (2005-present)
- UNMIS, the UN Mission in Sudan
CÔTE D’IVOIRE (2005-present)
- ONUCI, l’Opération des Nations Unies en Côte d’Ivoire
NEPAL (2007)
- UNMIN, the UN Mission in Nepal
Since 3 April 1992, the PNP Contingent has committed over three million (wo)man-hours to global peacekeeping and humanitarian purposes. From a statistical point of view, the energy spent could have covered at least three-and-a-half years’ worth of round-the-clock, all-out “felt police presence” in all seventeen cities and municipalities within the National Capital Region, and in all 78 provinces spread over the sixteen other regions, simultaneously.
But as government and people say, there is the time to attend to the needy beyond one’s own borders.
There’s a time for giving as much as for taking. The sacrifice and selflessness and all sorts of good graces shared with external populations always have a way of coming around.
===
*This very day, several PNP officers mark the end of their extended service with UNMIT. Like the thousandsomething before them scattered in the overseas beats, these Filipino policemen and -women received their UN Service Medals and individualized recognition certificates from their superiors, most of whom were vocal about not being able to capture the mission’s ideals without the trademark efficiency of members of the PNP Contingent.
There should also be a 24-hour nationwide observance of the Philippines' standard bearers who fleshed out Motherland’s contributions to international peace and regional stability, they who would attack the problem wielding nothing but the proverbial peace pipe, and a non-hostile solution.
There’s the register that contains the names of more than a thousand PNP international contingent-members who have endured some of the world’s worst crises with maximum tolerance. [Please refer to the Contingent Roll in the main website.]
Here’s an enumeration of the host areas attended by the PNP Contingent:
CAMBODIA (1992-93)
- UNTAC, the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia
HAÏTI (1994-95; 2004-present)
- Operation Uphold Democracy in Haïti
- UNMIH, the UN Mission in Haïti
- MINUSTAH, la Mission des Nations Unies pour la stabilisation en Haïti
TIMOR-LESTE (1999-present)
- UNAMET, the UN Mission in East Timor
- UNTAET, the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor
- UNMISET, the UN Mission of Support in Timor-Leste
- UNOTIL, the UN Office in Timor-Leste
- UNMIT*, the UN Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste
KOSOVO (1999-present)
- UNMIK, the UN Interim Administration in Kosovo
IRAQ (2003-04)
- PHCI, the Philippine Humanitarian Contingent to Iraq
LIBERIA (2004-present)
- UNMIL, the UN Mission in Liberia
AFGHANISTAN (2004-present)
- UNAMA, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan
SUDAN (2005-present)
- UNMIS, the UN Mission in Sudan
CÔTE D’IVOIRE (2005-present)
- ONUCI, l’Opération des Nations Unies en Côte d’Ivoire
NEPAL (2007)
- UNMIN, the UN Mission in Nepal
Since 3 April 1992, the PNP Contingent has committed over three million (wo)man-hours to global peacekeeping and humanitarian purposes. From a statistical point of view, the energy spent could have covered at least three-and-a-half years’ worth of round-the-clock, all-out “felt police presence” in all seventeen cities and municipalities within the National Capital Region, and in all 78 provinces spread over the sixteen other regions, simultaneously.
But as government and people say, there is the time to attend to the needy beyond one’s own borders.
There’s a time for giving as much as for taking. The sacrifice and selflessness and all sorts of good graces shared with external populations always have a way of coming around.
===
*This very day, several PNP officers mark the end of their extended service with UNMIT. Like the thousandsomething before them scattered in the overseas beats, these Filipino policemen and -women received their UN Service Medals and individualized recognition certificates from their superiors, most of whom were vocal about not being able to capture the mission’s ideals without the trademark efficiency of members of the PNP Contingent.
15 November 2007
007 ~ Starting Afresh
At present, the PNP maintains a pool of Filipino police officers awaiting orders for deployment anywhere within the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America.
Not long ago, these police officers were applicants who underwent a series of tests administered by both the PNP and the UN. Not long ago, they were closely scrutinized and measured by proctors and observers at camps around the country, as they labored under time pressure. They went without compromise or arrangement, with neither right nor privilege to cry, “Wait!” or “Take Two!” (let alone, “Take Three!”).
They meant serious business, going to the testing site on schedule, ready and confidently demonstrating their mental and physical proficiencies, not any more needing to waste other people’s time. They have refined their agility and muscle power, their driving and firing skills, way before exam time.
Thus, prior to departing for the mission area, the officers on standby have proven themselves worthy of serving the world.
The profession is not a joke. The mission area is not a playground. The hostilities are not part of a tabletop exercise that can be aborted at will. Instituting the host country’s police force is not as easy and relaxed as typing names and birth dates into the personnel databases; it is not an escapist’s chore and excuse for sneaking into a minimized browser to read personal e-mail.
There are no second chances when pro-Taliban activists in Afghanistan, mercenaries in Côte d’Ivoire, extremists in Nepal, or heavily armed gangsters in Haïti, open fire at any moving object –much less, at somebody getting complacent under the UN Blue Beret. There are no reversal prospects on the hazard-filled roads of Kosovo and Timor-Leste. There is no repelling the ferocious disease-bearing insects from stinging away in Liberia and the Sudan.
In sticky situations, the police officers should be able to use soul, heart, mind, and body, to extricate themselves. It is only by the ability to exist, feel, think, and do, as survival and morals together require, that anybody in danger can come out the least scathed.
Not long ago, these police officers were applicants who underwent a series of tests administered by both the PNP and the UN. Not long ago, they were closely scrutinized and measured by proctors and observers at camps around the country, as they labored under time pressure. They went without compromise or arrangement, with neither right nor privilege to cry, “Wait!” or “Take Two!” (let alone, “Take Three!”).
They meant serious business, going to the testing site on schedule, ready and confidently demonstrating their mental and physical proficiencies, not any more needing to waste other people’s time. They have refined their agility and muscle power, their driving and firing skills, way before exam time.
Thus, prior to departing for the mission area, the officers on standby have proven themselves worthy of serving the world.
The profession is not a joke. The mission area is not a playground. The hostilities are not part of a tabletop exercise that can be aborted at will. Instituting the host country’s police force is not as easy and relaxed as typing names and birth dates into the personnel databases; it is not an escapist’s chore and excuse for sneaking into a minimized browser to read personal e-mail.
There are no second chances when pro-Taliban activists in Afghanistan, mercenaries in Côte d’Ivoire, extremists in Nepal, or heavily armed gangsters in Haïti, open fire at any moving object –much less, at somebody getting complacent under the UN Blue Beret. There are no reversal prospects on the hazard-filled roads of Kosovo and Timor-Leste. There is no repelling the ferocious disease-bearing insects from stinging away in Liberia and the Sudan.
In sticky situations, the police officers should be able to use soul, heart, mind, and body, to extricate themselves. It is only by the ability to exist, feel, think, and do, as survival and morals together require, that anybody in danger can come out the least scathed.
30 October 2007
006 ~ Hallowed Histories
Last week, on the day the world celebrated the UN’s 62nd founding anniversary, the Philippines mourned the death of an Armed Forces of the Philippines lieutenant colonel, who succumbed to malaria while serving as a military observer in the Sudan.
The sudden passage creates another somber moment in the long-running career of the global kawal, Tagalog for soldier, and a forbidding addition to the memorial of the fallen in Haïti, Liberia, East Timor, Vietnam, and Korea.
It doesn’t matter that some of them perished in action, fighting for the general good with "extraordinary bravery", then being honored with the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal in the Service of Peace, the US Congress Soldier’s Medal, or the sole Philippine Medal for Valor conferred on an individual in the line of international-peacekeeping duty. It doesn’t matter that the rest died of disease, accident, or some other kind of non-hostile misfortune.
What matters is that until the time of reckoning with their personal fate, these outbound Filipino soldiers all lived a consequential period of resuscitating a near-dead peace, of breathing light to a benighted land, and of improving other people's odds of finding better destinies.
The 16-year-old PNP Contingent, early into its endeavor, lost two men (Cambodia, 1992-93), not to enemy fire.
Before the untimely demise (the deaths came within a few months of each other), the police officers withstood the grind of staff work; community immersion; high-risk patrolling; and adapting to the overseas-service environment, which was a painstaking process for a neophyte contingent.
Early into the mission in Khmer territory, the two noncommissioned personnel (with ranks loosely equivalent to police master sergeants) accomplished as ordered, improvised and innovated as time-wisened enlisted men were expected to do. So that when they departed, the statistics* to which they were reduced did not appear in the records as squat little figures, and in vain.
Toward the end of the road, they were paving the way for sobriety in a hideously genocidal society. In their own unassuming ways, they were advancing a campaign that in a less than a year's time was written down in humankind’s annals as the UN’s first successfully concluded peacekeeping operation.
It was just very sad that they couldn't come home "vertically", at everybody's prayer during the contingent send-off, to jubilate the triumph that they'd helped achieve.
===
*The Filipino police officers were two of the 61 international military and civilian police personnel of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia who died while in mission.
The sudden passage creates another somber moment in the long-running career of the global kawal, Tagalog for soldier, and a forbidding addition to the memorial of the fallen in Haïti, Liberia, East Timor, Vietnam, and Korea.
It doesn’t matter that some of them perished in action, fighting for the general good with "extraordinary bravery", then being honored with the Dag Hammarskjöld Medal in the Service of Peace, the US Congress Soldier’s Medal, or the sole Philippine Medal for Valor conferred on an individual in the line of international-peacekeeping duty. It doesn’t matter that the rest died of disease, accident, or some other kind of non-hostile misfortune.
What matters is that until the time of reckoning with their personal fate, these outbound Filipino soldiers all lived a consequential period of resuscitating a near-dead peace, of breathing light to a benighted land, and of improving other people's odds of finding better destinies.
The 16-year-old PNP Contingent, early into its endeavor, lost two men (Cambodia, 1992-93), not to enemy fire.
Before the untimely demise (the deaths came within a few months of each other), the police officers withstood the grind of staff work; community immersion; high-risk patrolling; and adapting to the overseas-service environment, which was a painstaking process for a neophyte contingent.
Early into the mission in Khmer territory, the two noncommissioned personnel (with ranks loosely equivalent to police master sergeants) accomplished as ordered, improvised and innovated as time-wisened enlisted men were expected to do. So that when they departed, the statistics* to which they were reduced did not appear in the records as squat little figures, and in vain.
Toward the end of the road, they were paving the way for sobriety in a hideously genocidal society. In their own unassuming ways, they were advancing a campaign that in a less than a year's time was written down in humankind’s annals as the UN’s first successfully concluded peacekeeping operation.
It was just very sad that they couldn't come home "vertically", at everybody's prayer during the contingent send-off, to jubilate the triumph that they'd helped achieve.
===
*The Filipino police officers were two of the 61 international military and civilian police personnel of the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia who died while in mission.
15 October 2007
005 ~ So Much for History
Around this time last year, the Department of Foreign Affairs hosted a fine evening of observance of the 61st UN Day.
There was an illuminating exhibit that bore the theme, “Stand Up for Peace, Stand Up for A Better World”. Sumptuous cocktails and pleasantries followed to assure a successful celebration of the Philippines’ 61st year as an operative figure in the world peace pursuit.
The most meaningful of the events, however, was the preceding program that showcased cultural dance and song talents; unveiled an issue of Philippine Postal Corporation commemorative stamps; and, best of all, graciously handed out certificates of recognition to the international peacekeeping contingents of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The audience could feel the pride of the uniformed men from the honored line, each taking a turn to represent his organization in receiving the token signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G Romulo. The sheet of paper, one per mission, wrote of the Philippine government’s appreciation for the efficient discharge of peace-restoration duties in places outside national borders. It embodied the belief of the Filipino people that despite lingering problems at home, enkindling the spirit of good-neighborliness was as noble as it was necessary.
At the time, halfway into its fifteenth year of overseas service, the PNP Contingent was overseeing the simultaneous deployment of 280-odd police officers in Africa’s east and west coasts, the Caribbean, East Asia and the Middle East, and Eastern Europe –sustaining a special political endeavor, organizing the ballot, keeping the peace with or without an armed mandate. At the time, there was an unwitting preparation being made for yet another recognition, already an international one, of the Philippines being the world’s top UNPol contributor.
Now at sixteen, the PNP Contingent keeps growing in strength, coverage, and experience, given the additional global-policing slots in UNMIN, the UN Mission in Nepal, and UNAMID, the African Union/UN Mission in Darfur.
In mid-2007, Filipino police officers went near the "Top of the World", on a UN special political mission (the PNP's second, after Afghanistan), to scale the challenge of successfully administering the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Nepalese government and the Maoist Communist Party. In a few months, about 45 Filipino police officers will fly to the Sahara, to shape a peace and order landscape that would have been haven for 200,000 lives snuffed out in the heat of the Janjaweed rampage. The PNP's men- and women-in-uniform will join a large-scale hybrid effort between the incumbent forces of the African Union and the new assemblage of UN Blue Berets, 26,000 or thereabouts in all.
There are times when people innocently ask why the PNP, or the Philippine government for that matter, can afford the extravagance of coping with the demands of wars that are not theirs, when internally the police-to-population ratio is a frustrating figure.
The outward reason, as written in the Philippine Constitution’s Declaration of Principles and State Policies, is adherence to “the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations”. The Philippines, being a UN founding member (and, on quite a number of times, actively seized of highly critical UN Security Council matters), should not be remiss on her obligation to humanity. She is out there to defeat the evils of hatred and strife, being spread at a harrowing speed, and not her purpose for existence.
The inward reason, although a still-to-be-optimized one, is the benefit given –given back to, actually– the Filipino police outfit. Returning members of the PNP Contingent carry a wealth of experience with which to boost action on the home front. They were not mere eyewitnesses to the effects of discord; they were among the brains and brawn that reversed the torment brought about by genocides and ethnic purges, civil wars and foreign intrusions. They were among the brains and brawn that put teeth into the host country’s law enforcement arm.
The ideal when the Filipino police officers come back is for them to act as instruments for retooling an institution bereft of a consistently clean and dignified image. With more than three million (wo)man-hours of international peacekeeping experience, since Day One in Cambodia (3 April 1992) and through the non-UN periods in Haïti (1994-95) and Iraq (2003-04), the PNP Contingent has countless ways of contributing to peace and order in its homestead.
The envisioned reentry program for the PNP Contingent is geared toward the intensive training of recruits and specialization-course students, on the areas of crime prevention and suppression, crime investigation, police-community relations, administration of manpower and logistics.
It is assumed that the package includes making good use of the UN’s principle of “democratic policing”, where police officers are representative to the community; responsive to public needs and expectations; and accountable to the law, ethics, and morals of the land. It is also assumed that the package values the fact that the PNP Contingent –having undertaken the design or redesign of police academies in failed states, the vetting and certification of trainees, advisory work with the incumbent local law enforcers– can see through renovating its own organization’s structure.
Currently, PNP Chief Police Director-General Avelino I Razon Jr is charged by his commander in chief to galvanize the country’s human rights advocacy. Now is an opportune moment to have the PNP Contingent (the returning unit, to be more specific) on its mettle, with lessons learned from being exposed to effects of the unthinkable abuses inflicted on men, women, and children –by men, women, and, in the most shocking situations, armed-to-the-hilt children.
Sixty-plus years of the Philippines standing up for a better world by preserving humankind outside of her backyard is not a hollow gesture or an exercise in futility. (Even during her military’s two-decade rest from peacekeeping overseas, circa 1970-90, she was involved in international discussions on shaping a better future for Cambodia and East Timor, all of which paid off in time.)
The short of it is that there is a big, noble cause behind the act of sharing, no matter from which perspective it is viewed. The commensurate return, the modest reward, should not be left to fritter away.
There was an illuminating exhibit that bore the theme, “Stand Up for Peace, Stand Up for A Better World”. Sumptuous cocktails and pleasantries followed to assure a successful celebration of the Philippines’ 61st year as an operative figure in the world peace pursuit.
The most meaningful of the events, however, was the preceding program that showcased cultural dance and song talents; unveiled an issue of Philippine Postal Corporation commemorative stamps; and, best of all, graciously handed out certificates of recognition to the international peacekeeping contingents of the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
The audience could feel the pride of the uniformed men from the honored line, each taking a turn to represent his organization in receiving the token signed by Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G Romulo. The sheet of paper, one per mission, wrote of the Philippine government’s appreciation for the efficient discharge of peace-restoration duties in places outside national borders. It embodied the belief of the Filipino people that despite lingering problems at home, enkindling the spirit of good-neighborliness was as noble as it was necessary.
At the time, halfway into its fifteenth year of overseas service, the PNP Contingent was overseeing the simultaneous deployment of 280-odd police officers in Africa’s east and west coasts, the Caribbean, East Asia and the Middle East, and Eastern Europe –sustaining a special political endeavor, organizing the ballot, keeping the peace with or without an armed mandate. At the time, there was an unwitting preparation being made for yet another recognition, already an international one, of the Philippines being the world’s top UNPol contributor.
Now at sixteen, the PNP Contingent keeps growing in strength, coverage, and experience, given the additional global-policing slots in UNMIN, the UN Mission in Nepal, and UNAMID, the African Union/UN Mission in Darfur.
In mid-2007, Filipino police officers went near the "Top of the World", on a UN special political mission (the PNP's second, after Afghanistan), to scale the challenge of successfully administering the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between the Nepalese government and the Maoist Communist Party. In a few months, about 45 Filipino police officers will fly to the Sahara, to shape a peace and order landscape that would have been haven for 200,000 lives snuffed out in the heat of the Janjaweed rampage. The PNP's men- and women-in-uniform will join a large-scale hybrid effort between the incumbent forces of the African Union and the new assemblage of UN Blue Berets, 26,000 or thereabouts in all.
There are times when people innocently ask why the PNP, or the Philippine government for that matter, can afford the extravagance of coping with the demands of wars that are not theirs, when internally the police-to-population ratio is a frustrating figure.
The outward reason, as written in the Philippine Constitution’s Declaration of Principles and State Policies, is adherence to “the policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom, cooperation, and amity with all nations”. The Philippines, being a UN founding member (and, on quite a number of times, actively seized of highly critical UN Security Council matters), should not be remiss on her obligation to humanity. She is out there to defeat the evils of hatred and strife, being spread at a harrowing speed, and not her purpose for existence.
The inward reason, although a still-to-be-optimized one, is the benefit given –given back to, actually– the Filipino police outfit. Returning members of the PNP Contingent carry a wealth of experience with which to boost action on the home front. They were not mere eyewitnesses to the effects of discord; they were among the brains and brawn that reversed the torment brought about by genocides and ethnic purges, civil wars and foreign intrusions. They were among the brains and brawn that put teeth into the host country’s law enforcement arm.
The ideal when the Filipino police officers come back is for them to act as instruments for retooling an institution bereft of a consistently clean and dignified image. With more than three million (wo)man-hours of international peacekeeping experience, since Day One in Cambodia (3 April 1992) and through the non-UN periods in Haïti (1994-95) and Iraq (2003-04), the PNP Contingent has countless ways of contributing to peace and order in its homestead.
The envisioned reentry program for the PNP Contingent is geared toward the intensive training of recruits and specialization-course students, on the areas of crime prevention and suppression, crime investigation, police-community relations, administration of manpower and logistics.
It is assumed that the package includes making good use of the UN’s principle of “democratic policing”, where police officers are representative to the community; responsive to public needs and expectations; and accountable to the law, ethics, and morals of the land. It is also assumed that the package values the fact that the PNP Contingent –having undertaken the design or redesign of police academies in failed states, the vetting and certification of trainees, advisory work with the incumbent local law enforcers– can see through renovating its own organization’s structure.
Currently, PNP Chief Police Director-General Avelino I Razon Jr is charged by his commander in chief to galvanize the country’s human rights advocacy. Now is an opportune moment to have the PNP Contingent (the returning unit, to be more specific) on its mettle, with lessons learned from being exposed to effects of the unthinkable abuses inflicted on men, women, and children –by men, women, and, in the most shocking situations, armed-to-the-hilt children.
Sixty-plus years of the Philippines standing up for a better world by preserving humankind outside of her backyard is not a hollow gesture or an exercise in futility. (Even during her military’s two-decade rest from peacekeeping overseas, circa 1970-90, she was involved in international discussions on shaping a better future for Cambodia and East Timor, all of which paid off in time.)
The short of it is that there is a big, noble cause behind the act of sharing, no matter from which perspective it is viewed. The commensurate return, the modest reward, should not be left to fritter away.
30 September 2007
004 ~ Learning from History
A soon-to-be anointed member of the PNP's international peacekeeping contingent recently released one of his jailed charges on account of lack of evidence.
The suspect, taken in for an acts-of-lasciviousness complaint, was surprisingly saddened at his liberty for the basic reason called sustenance. Unlike at home, he never went hungry at the station. A few days later, the man would commit a petty crime to earn his "meal ticket" back in the can.
The police officer, at relating the anecdote to friends, was then told of a similar incident that transpired in East Timor. A jailbreak had occurred in what was yet a turbulent Indonesian province.
From the Becora Prison's Civilian Detention Center, where a Filipino UN CivPol was assigned, 14 inmates bolted to their unwarranted freedom. Half the number did not consummate the dash and were returned behind bars, once extricated from the perimeter barbed wire. The other half were later accounted for, after being tracked down by the local and multinational patrols or, as predicted, upon surrender. The free will, coming from either the detainees themselves or their close kin, was for one mouth less to feed at the spare family kitchen.
Lessons drawn from the above-narrated cases probably explain better-quality reform procedures. It might have been rethinking corrections by touching the nucleus of the human spirit, even if it was done through the stomach.
Minds are now curious if high-profile malefactors would do the same, given an opportunity to walk out of the squalid cell, toward where there is a whole lot more in store for them.*
These are mostly the ones being tried for war crimes, once charged with endless power and now charged heavily for mass destruction and mass murder. They are former heads of state, army generals, political bigwigs, and ministers of the disarrayed nations. They have interests in country, people, economy, luxury, and gourmet food ---all of which make strong rationalizations on evading justice.
Just the same, however momentarily, they can find good within themselves and soften up the lines on their malfeasance-hardened faces, whenever accorded civility.
Several Filipino UN Blue Berets who worked in the Kosovo mission's prisoner escort unit have experienced their wards' reciprocation of kindness. Although escort elements are restricted from communicating with prisoners while being transited to court hearings, they still receive gestures of sincere appreciation for the gentleness in handling handcuffed affairs.
It goes to show that abuse of authority or maltreatment of even society's least wanted does not ease up a tense situation. It will not reverse the damage, big or small, that the lawless had been responsible for inflicting. Most definitely, it will not bring back to life the corpses that they might have maimed, took the life out of, and buried without reverence.
===
* Later reports show that Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor enjoys a satellite dish and DVD player in his cell while facing charges of crimes against humanity. He is widely believed to have terrorized the civilian population with his countless acts of murder, physical violence, rape and sexual slavery, forced labor, looting, and the employment of child-soldiers under 15 years old.
- Newsweek, 15 October 2007, page 5;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6707551.stm.
The suspect, taken in for an acts-of-lasciviousness complaint, was surprisingly saddened at his liberty for the basic reason called sustenance. Unlike at home, he never went hungry at the station. A few days later, the man would commit a petty crime to earn his "meal ticket" back in the can.
The police officer, at relating the anecdote to friends, was then told of a similar incident that transpired in East Timor. A jailbreak had occurred in what was yet a turbulent Indonesian province.
From the Becora Prison's Civilian Detention Center, where a Filipino UN CivPol was assigned, 14 inmates bolted to their unwarranted freedom. Half the number did not consummate the dash and were returned behind bars, once extricated from the perimeter barbed wire. The other half were later accounted for, after being tracked down by the local and multinational patrols or, as predicted, upon surrender. The free will, coming from either the detainees themselves or their close kin, was for one mouth less to feed at the spare family kitchen.
Lessons drawn from the above-narrated cases probably explain better-quality reform procedures. It might have been rethinking corrections by touching the nucleus of the human spirit, even if it was done through the stomach.
Minds are now curious if high-profile malefactors would do the same, given an opportunity to walk out of the squalid cell, toward where there is a whole lot more in store for them.*
These are mostly the ones being tried for war crimes, once charged with endless power and now charged heavily for mass destruction and mass murder. They are former heads of state, army generals, political bigwigs, and ministers of the disarrayed nations. They have interests in country, people, economy, luxury, and gourmet food ---all of which make strong rationalizations on evading justice.
Just the same, however momentarily, they can find good within themselves and soften up the lines on their malfeasance-hardened faces, whenever accorded civility.
Several Filipino UN Blue Berets who worked in the Kosovo mission's prisoner escort unit have experienced their wards' reciprocation of kindness. Although escort elements are restricted from communicating with prisoners while being transited to court hearings, they still receive gestures of sincere appreciation for the gentleness in handling handcuffed affairs.
It goes to show that abuse of authority or maltreatment of even society's least wanted does not ease up a tense situation. It will not reverse the damage, big or small, that the lawless had been responsible for inflicting. Most definitely, it will not bring back to life the corpses that they might have maimed, took the life out of, and buried without reverence.
===
* Later reports show that Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor enjoys a satellite dish and DVD player in his cell while facing charges of crimes against humanity. He is widely believed to have terrorized the civilian population with his countless acts of murder, physical violence, rape and sexual slavery, forced labor, looting, and the employment of child-soldiers under 15 years old.
- Newsweek, 15 October 2007, page 5;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6707551.stm.
15 September 2007
003 ~ Living the History
There were vicarious thrills, listening to stories and adventures of the men and women who'd been there, doing global-policing what.
Then there were actual chills from gracing the mission area, to observe how a human being works in a PNP uniform capped by the UN Blue Beret.
So many insights to gain in trying to write serious and strightforward history, and so many twists and turns to get entangled in ---all of which are too exciting to be avoided.
For instance, when the website was launched as one of the book's information conduits, a new avenue of exchange was born. Every week since, messages from across the planet have reached the virtual postal center. Most of these are of collaborator concern: book-purchase inquiries or congratulatory phrases or motions (digital attachments and all) to improve the draft. Are these senders blessed!
Others carry verses that strike the chord of sentimentality and melancholy, and there are yet others (albeit a thankful few) that simply get in the nerves. Bless the senders of such, too.
Surprisingly, there flood semi- and extremely desperate requests from even the far corners of the globe (the online ones, that is), for assistance in locating any one of the Filipino police officers listed in the PNP Contingent Roll. These come from persons who identify themselves as distant relatives, high school buddies, resigned mistah from the military academy, former colleagues in the pre-Web UN missions, ex-girlfriends.
(Important: No ex-boyfriends have yet come forward to seek help in search-and-rescue operations of this nature.)
This "pumps" fresh irony for people who attempt to write serious, straightforward history: having a bit of clean fun in dealing with the lighter side of the past.
Then the burden comes when the history-writing passion presses in, and everything that can be afforded closure should be given one.
So whenever possible, the missives are forwarded to those concerned, directly or through known comrades, juniors, or superiors in the active service. The requesting parties are not given any contact information on the subject police officer, but are notified that tracking has been undertaken.
It would be nice to know if a two-way correspondence did push through, and whether or not a slice of history has had its closure or moved on to a new beginning.
Then there were actual chills from gracing the mission area, to observe how a human being works in a PNP uniform capped by the UN Blue Beret.
So many insights to gain in trying to write serious and strightforward history, and so many twists and turns to get entangled in ---all of which are too exciting to be avoided.
For instance, when the website was launched as one of the book's information conduits, a new avenue of exchange was born. Every week since, messages from across the planet have reached the virtual postal center. Most of these are of collaborator concern: book-purchase inquiries or congratulatory phrases or motions (digital attachments and all) to improve the draft. Are these senders blessed!
Others carry verses that strike the chord of sentimentality and melancholy, and there are yet others (albeit a thankful few) that simply get in the nerves. Bless the senders of such, too.
Surprisingly, there flood semi- and extremely desperate requests from even the far corners of the globe (the online ones, that is), for assistance in locating any one of the Filipino police officers listed in the PNP Contingent Roll. These come from persons who identify themselves as distant relatives, high school buddies, resigned mistah from the military academy, former colleagues in the pre-Web UN missions, ex-girlfriends.
(Important: No ex-boyfriends have yet come forward to seek help in search-and-rescue operations of this nature.)
This "pumps" fresh irony for people who attempt to write serious, straightforward history: having a bit of clean fun in dealing with the lighter side of the past.
Then the burden comes when the history-writing passion presses in, and everything that can be afforded closure should be given one.
So whenever possible, the missives are forwarded to those concerned, directly or through known comrades, juniors, or superiors in the active service. The requesting parties are not given any contact information on the subject police officer, but are notified that tracking has been undertaken.
It would be nice to know if a two-way correspondence did push through, and whether or not a slice of history has had its closure or moved on to a new beginning.
30 August 2007
002 ~ Making History
Writing PNP international-peacekeeping history was done in both the factual and figure-of-speech contexts.
Factual, in that the past works of the overseas-bound PNP contingent were described as accurately as could be. Figure of speech, in that over the time spent in composing words to properly and most picturesquely paint the Filipino officers' experiences as UN Blue Berets, fresh ideas stemmed and were fleshed out.
On paper at least, the Philippine Formed Police Unit (FPU) was conceived, its existence and organization having been justified and encouraged by the executive branch of government. In August 2006, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) approved Napolcom Resolution Number 2006-247, entitled, "Approving the Creation of the PNP Formed Police Unit". (The Philippine FPU's birthing is deferred due to local-peacekeeping considerations, but should be expected in the coming months.)
More than on paper, one of the book's collaborators set the record for being the first Filipino to be named police commissioner of a UN peacekeeping mission, the biggest purely-civilian police mission at that. Within his first semester of leadership, strength of his command peaked to 1,661 UN Blue Berets, including elements from the Bangladeshi, Malaysian, Pakistani, and Portuguese FPUs. This number is five-and a-half times the size of MIPONUH, la Mission des police des Nations Unies en Haïti, one of the earlier sans-military missions.
Then came, in mid-May 2007, the UN Security Council announcement that the Philippines had become the world's most generous UN Police (UNPol) contributors, with her 288 simultaneously deployed personnel in Afghanistan, Côte d'Ivoire, Haïti, Kosovo, Liberia, the Sudan, and Timor-Leste. It was the honor borne by the tight coordination between the PNP and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN, smoothly and skillfully fostered through the seasons. It was the glory borne of a vision shared by predecessors, incumbents, and successors in both offices.
Point is, the consummated story of burning passions always has beginnings. These are sparked by men and women, the individuals, who rise and shine above the rest.
For whatever it's worth, a "World Records" sidebar graces the book's PART FOUR: THE BODY.
So, should one wish to find out who among the 1,075 featured Filipino UNPol (or CivPol, as some of them were called before the issuance of the 2004 UN memorandum that changed the name) bear the expertise, he or she can thumb through the look-see. There is a list of luminaries in the fields of intercontinental peacekeeping, gender-sensitive posting, contingent commandership, secondment service, and so forth.
Critics are free to dismiss the effort as "trivializing history". The passive can shrug it off as a mere recognition of personal accomplishments. Well, well, congratulations!
But the optimistic and the better-thinking will salvage the snippets of information, because they regard these as cores of future endeavors, the here-and-now starting points of tomorrow's successes.
One cannot stop them for believing that beneath a melding of contexts ---factual, figure of speech, and everything good in between--- lies something doable and tangible. And one can only wonder however in the world these few people can manage to make so many things possible and real, and to make quite a global difference.
Factual, in that the past works of the overseas-bound PNP contingent were described as accurately as could be. Figure of speech, in that over the time spent in composing words to properly and most picturesquely paint the Filipino officers' experiences as UN Blue Berets, fresh ideas stemmed and were fleshed out.
On paper at least, the Philippine Formed Police Unit (FPU) was conceived, its existence and organization having been justified and encouraged by the executive branch of government. In August 2006, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) approved Napolcom Resolution Number 2006-247, entitled, "Approving the Creation of the PNP Formed Police Unit". (The Philippine FPU's birthing is deferred due to local-peacekeeping considerations, but should be expected in the coming months.)
More than on paper, one of the book's collaborators set the record for being the first Filipino to be named police commissioner of a UN peacekeeping mission, the biggest purely-civilian police mission at that. Within his first semester of leadership, strength of his command peaked to 1,661 UN Blue Berets, including elements from the Bangladeshi, Malaysian, Pakistani, and Portuguese FPUs. This number is five-and a-half times the size of MIPONUH, la Mission des police des Nations Unies en Haïti, one of the earlier sans-military missions.
Then came, in mid-May 2007, the UN Security Council announcement that the Philippines had become the world's most generous UN Police (UNPol) contributors, with her 288 simultaneously deployed personnel in Afghanistan, Côte d'Ivoire, Haïti, Kosovo, Liberia, the Sudan, and Timor-Leste. It was the honor borne by the tight coordination between the PNP and the Philippine Permanent Mission to the UN, smoothly and skillfully fostered through the seasons. It was the glory borne of a vision shared by predecessors, incumbents, and successors in both offices.
Point is, the consummated story of burning passions always has beginnings. These are sparked by men and women, the individuals, who rise and shine above the rest.
For whatever it's worth, a "World Records" sidebar graces the book's PART FOUR: THE BODY.
So, should one wish to find out who among the 1,075 featured Filipino UNPol (or CivPol, as some of them were called before the issuance of the 2004 UN memorandum that changed the name) bear the expertise, he or she can thumb through the look-see. There is a list of luminaries in the fields of intercontinental peacekeeping, gender-sensitive posting, contingent commandership, secondment service, and so forth.
Critics are free to dismiss the effort as "trivializing history". The passive can shrug it off as a mere recognition of personal accomplishments. Well, well, congratulations!
But the optimistic and the better-thinking will salvage the snippets of information, because they regard these as cores of future endeavors, the here-and-now starting points of tomorrow's successes.
One cannot stop them for believing that beneath a melding of contexts ---factual, figure of speech, and everything good in between--- lies something doable and tangible. And one can only wonder however in the world these few people can manage to make so many things possible and real, and to make quite a global difference.
15 August 2007
001 ~ Writing History
The two full years spent on building the Filipino police officer's basic international-peacekeeping record, which appears in PART FOUR: THE BODY section of the coffee-table book, was obviously not a breeze.
The process involved the acquisition and filtering of existing lists from several PNP official channels, the adding of facts that had been omitted by mistake and the ridding of erroneous entries, as well as the counterchecking of results with other sources (including retired UN veterans, families of those who have passed on, and external agencies here in the Philippines and abroad), made twice or thrice over.
It took that long, considering the assortment of factors that came well beyond the collaborators' control. (Some factors were outright beneficial, while others could be blessings in disguise.)
It took that long, considering the assortment of minute details that the collaborators had wanted corrected.
To achieve that, it meant having to create new, exclusive, comprehensive databases that could, among countless tasks:
> generate per-person demographic information;
> map ethnicity, career, and other important profiles
(that are hoped to someday contribute
to the PNP's force-generation procedures); and
> estimate (wo)man-hours for each police officer,
for each mission, for each host country.
To think that this activity covered just one of the book's four main sections.
But it was worth all the effort, to have somewhat connected with more than a handful of the 1,075 Filipino policemen and -women who served within the first fifteen-year period of the PNP's involvement in overseas peace-building campaigns (including non-UN missions, such as the 1994-95 multinational operation in Haïti and the 2003-04 humanitarian endeavor in Iraq).
Just by this sub-process, among the many that it took to put the book together, the collaborators would learn, yet again, that patience is indeed an indispensable virtue. And so are sound judgment, tact, temperance, tolerance, thoroughness, and humility above all.
One cannot be too proud to face the issues that are inherent in the chronicling of events and in the construction of milestones that should have been there already. One cannot stop toiling without making sure that all available resources have been exhausted, and without making sure that all perceived and potential resources have been unearthed.
Otherwise, history ---pillar of a people's culture and the springboard to a nation's future--- would be a farce that could erode the edifice of an emerging peace-building power.
The process involved the acquisition and filtering of existing lists from several PNP official channels, the adding of facts that had been omitted by mistake and the ridding of erroneous entries, as well as the counterchecking of results with other sources (including retired UN veterans, families of those who have passed on, and external agencies here in the Philippines and abroad), made twice or thrice over.
It took that long, considering the assortment of factors that came well beyond the collaborators' control. (Some factors were outright beneficial, while others could be blessings in disguise.)
It took that long, considering the assortment of minute details that the collaborators had wanted corrected.
To achieve that, it meant having to create new, exclusive, comprehensive databases that could, among countless tasks:
> generate per-person demographic information;
> map ethnicity, career, and other important profiles
(that are hoped to someday contribute
to the PNP's force-generation procedures); and
> estimate (wo)man-hours for each police officer,
for each mission, for each host country.
To think that this activity covered just one of the book's four main sections.
But it was worth all the effort, to have somewhat connected with more than a handful of the 1,075 Filipino policemen and -women who served within the first fifteen-year period of the PNP's involvement in overseas peace-building campaigns (including non-UN missions, such as the 1994-95 multinational operation in Haïti and the 2003-04 humanitarian endeavor in Iraq).
Just by this sub-process, among the many that it took to put the book together, the collaborators would learn, yet again, that patience is indeed an indispensable virtue. And so are sound judgment, tact, temperance, tolerance, thoroughness, and humility above all.
One cannot be too proud to face the issues that are inherent in the chronicling of events and in the construction of milestones that should have been there already. One cannot stop toiling without making sure that all available resources have been exhausted, and without making sure that all perceived and potential resources have been unearthed.
Otherwise, history ---pillar of a people's culture and the springboard to a nation's future--- would be a farce that could erode the edifice of an emerging peace-building power.
