New Army chief vows to continue father’s legacy

MAJ. GEN. EMMANUEL BAUTISTA ‘We have been fighting too long. Too many have died, including my father.’ CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The new Army chief Major General Emmanuel Bautista said he will continue the legacy of his father, the late Brigadier General Teodulfo Bautista, to pursue peace with insurgents.

But he also warned that the military would use force against those who insist on taking up arms and commit atrocities against the populace.

“The road to peace is long and difficult… We will continue to reach out to our brothers and choose the peaceful path and those who do so will merit our unwavering support. But for those who insist in using arms to threaten the safety and well-being our people we will apply legitimate force,” Bautista stressed.

Referring to the October 18 ambush in Al-Barka, Bautista said: “We will seek justice against those who commit atrocities through appropriate calibrated and focused response, without necessarily jeopardizing the peace process and within the bounds of human rights, international humanitarian law and the rule of law.”

“After all, the use of legitimate force is within the government’s overall framework of achieving peace and security within the ambit of the Bayanihan internal peace and security plan,” Bautista said.

The Bayanihan is the military’s new counterinsurgency strategy which Bautista helped to design.

In assuming the post as the Army’s 54th commanding general, Bautista paid tribute to his father, “a soldier of peace whose legacy is my source of inspiration.”

The senior Bautista was killed in the infamous Oct. 10, 1977 massacre in Sulu. He and 34 of his officers and men were on a peace mission to discuss a possible ceasefire when they were ruthlessly gunned down by Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) rebels led by Usman Sali.

“He did not live long enough to be the CGPA (commanding general of the Army) but his son now stands before you instead. He did not see the dawn of peace but his son will carry on the torch,” said Bautista, whose mother Gloria and two siblings were in the audience at the Fort Bonifacio grandstand.

At the turnover ceremonies, the retired Army chief Lieutenant General Arturo Ortiz called Bautista a “most worthy successor.”

Ortiz, a recipient of the military’s highest award for heroism, the Medal for Valor, drew surprised gasps from the audience when he opted not to ride a military vehicle when he inspected the troops in the parade grounds for the last time.

The inspection of troops, an important part of a testimonial review, has become highly ritualized with the honored official riding a slow-moving vehicle to make the perfunctory inspection.

But Ortiz, generally regarded as a soldier’s soldier, walked with officers through the full length of the parade grounds to get a full look at the condition of the troops.  With Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao