The Dark Night of Our Souls, part 2

Two alleged Magdalo soldiers were seen in Bicol, recruiting soldiers for another shot at freedom. Dolorfino took over as head of the restive Marines. Tanks and APCs were seen rolling towards Camp Aguinaldo. The Air Force commander recently had an inventory of helicopters and planes. And the Army chief is as silent as ever.

What about the Navy?

Obviously, the Navy has been recruited already. Remember that the Marines are supposed to be under the operational command and supervision of the Navy. However, GMA opted to hire the services of Dolorfino who's not a Marine and definitely not from the Navy. The Navy is supposed to solve this problem. I think they're busy trying to get the smuggled goods out from our ports.

The Spark

Times have really changed complexion since the debacle last July. Recent setbacks in the Southern theater of war have been traced to the ineffectiveness and unreliability of civilian leaders. Its not defective weapons or the lack of it that causes the deep problems of the AFP. Its the ones whose running the show that are to blame for the deaths of these brave patriots.

The tears seen flowing from the faces of young cadets and equally young PMA graduates reflect the sentiments of the nation. The People are angry not to the Abus whose mission is to destroy their enemies anyway. The People want justice for their dead soldiers. And the obvious culprits seems to be GMA and her ilk.

Resolution

There seems to be two main competing forces for power. On one side, the lapdogs of GMA. On the other side, the forces of Ramos. The third force is just a mirage. I don't really believe that there's really a "revolutionary" armed forces. Probably, there is. But their capabilities remain in question.

There are reports that Ebdane is recruiting soldiers for a power grab. Ebdane is very influential among the ranks. And he's obviously a Ramos lapdog.

Esperon seems to be caught in the middle of things. He's the AFP Chief of Staff and his loyalty should remain with GMA. However, his strategic blunders in the past are being analyzed as (a) inherent (b) as planned to destabilize or (c) undermined by his own commanders below. Analyzing the face of the Chief of Staff, Esperon seems to be really incapable of being the Chief. He's head should really be placed on the chopping board.