Column for Journ 103: Interpretive Writing (submitted 20 Sept. 2002)

Contrary to what the US would have us believe, there's more to September than September 11. Crashing an airplane into high-profile buildings isn't the only way to disrespect a nation's sovereignty. Heroes take on forms other than firefighters and police officers lost in the rubble that was once the Twin Towers. The stroke of a pen can be the most poignant assertion of power, and heroes can be found in the unlikeliest of places - the Philippine Senate.

Hundreds flooded the Bahay ng Alumni on Monday afternoon for the reunion of the Magnificent Twelve, the senators who, on September 16, 1991, voted to do away with US bases and sent G.I. Joe home to Uncle Sam 15 years ahead of schedule. As in most reunions, there were several no-shows (most noticeably Joseph Estrada, who was still under "hospital arrest") and plenty of reminiscing (with the crowds chanting the old rally cries every now and then). Recent developments, however, cast a shadow upon the otherwise cheerful occasion. Joe has been coming over for slumber parties more often and is hinting at taking up permanent residence.

The Balikatan exercises, which used to be confined to Basilan, have spread to other localities faster than the Survivor reality series changes venues. Over roughly the same amount of time, the Arroyo administration has decided to target the New People's Army. Unlike the Abu Sayyaf, the NPA is scattered throughout the archipelago, with concentrations in Central Luzon. Funny that the new round of US-RP "training exercises" should have as broad a scope as theirs.

As if the country didn't already have its hands full with the Visiting Forces Agreement, it also has one doozy of an "accounting tool" called the Mutual Logistics and Support Agreement upon its shoulders. Although the administration has yet to furnish the public with a copy, the MLSA's provisions appear to include the transfer and storage of war materials, heralding an inevitable regress to the days of the bases. Because it is purported to be a mere accounting tool, it may not even have to pass through Congress or the Senate, thus avoiding the kind of debate that led to the events of September 16.

Perhaps the worst part of it all is that the US once again has a Bush at the helm, and Dubya is keen on doing it Poppa's way. As vice president Teofisto Guingona Jr. pointed out Monday afternoon, the US has scrapped the "containment and deterrence" mindset of John F. Kennedy's time in favor of a first-strike policy which touts a pre-emptive offense to be "the best and, sometimes, only defense." The US appears determined to shed its International Guard Dog image and don the hood of the Hangman of the World.

Their solution is worse than the problem. The policy does not promote peace; it breeds animosity, and everyone knows we don't need any more of that. It will only fan the flames of dissent and create new generations of bin Ladens and Husseins, whether or not the current ones are in cahoots with each other. If Dubya had a hundred dollars for every person recruited into al-Qaeda because of US foreign policy, he might have enough to pull his country out of its worst recession in decades.

Then again, the recession is likely to be Dubya's motivation in the first place. The US is known to prosper during and after periods of war. The war against terror and the war against Iraq may be nothing but a creative (although by no means unorthodox) way of circumventing a full-blown economic crisis in the US.

However the Arroyo administration disguises it, the MLSA toes tricky ideological ground and demands the Senate's verdict. Ideology will never be this Senate's strongest suit, but it is still the Senate's constitutional prerogative to decide on issues of national sovereignty. If for nothing else, senators should be made to mull over the MLSA to keep them from investing their time in extra-curriculars like hosting television and radio shows, acting as wedding and baptismal sponsors, or promoting laundry detergent. More importantly, the senators owe it to Lorenzo Ta�ada, Guingona and the rest of the Twelve to uphold the principles they fought bitterly for in 1991. Then, perhaps, there can be heroes in the Senate again.