News: Bautista gets fourth star; offers hand of peace

AFP Chief of Staff
Gen. Emmanuel Bautista
Image from DND website.

[Unpublished] 

Submitted Jan 30 for Jan 31, 2013 

Written by: Dennis D. Estopace, Reporter 

[270 words / 1,693 characters]

HAVING been awarded the highest military rank in simple ceremonies Wednesday morning, Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen. Emmanuel Bautista asked rebels to drop armed struggle as an option for social transformation.

"I hope no one else among our compatriots today would be so foolish to go to the mountains and wage armed struggle," Bautista said in Tagalog, but describing such option as "Jurassic."

He added that armed struggle as an option may have been relevant in the past "pero ngayon, maraming pamamaraan para  masolusyonan natin yung mga  problema." [Today, we have other methods to solve our problems.]

Bautista offered the position after nine people were killed in an ambush by suspected New People's Army early Sunday in a village in La Castellana, a first class municipality in the province of Negros Occidental.

Photo from Wikipedia

Bautista said that while security forces are running after suspects, the AFP will "continue to pursue our agenda in the Bayanihan internal peace and security plan."

Bautista is considered the author of Bayanihan, a plan which he led in formulating as AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, J3, before assuming the post of 3rd Infantry Division Commander three years ago.

He told reporters in a forum yesterday that the offer of peace is also extended to Muslim rebels.

But while Bautista said the AFP supports the peace process, "we are also after the rule of law."

"That's why we're discussing the transitional justice mechanism [in the peace panel with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front]."

Aside from Bautista, National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin also announced the designation of Col. Herminigildo Aquino as Senior Mlitary Assistant, replacing  Brig. Gen Hernando Iriberri.