Taps is the bugle call played every time a soldier or a former soldier dies and is laid to rest. But this 24-note poignant bugle call was originally played in the old days for soldiers to signal lights out: It was time to go to sleep.
When I say the old days, this was before there was electricity. There were a lot of bugle calls to signal important daily activities in a soldier’s life. There were bugle calls to rise, for mess, to attack, retreat and many others. The taps then did not also originally sound the way it does today and the reason for this was because during the American Civil War, a Union Army General by the name of Dan Butterfield did not like the sound of the original call. To him, it did not sound musical enough. One July night in 1862, he called the brigade bugler, Oliver W. Norton and together they worked out a new bugle call which we now all know today. When the bugler played this new revised composition, it had this melancholy sound and it became an instant hit. It spread throughout the union army including the confederate army.
Since the Armed Forces of the Philippines follows United States military culture, this custom has spilled over to us. I have been, however, unable to find out when the taps started to be played in military funerals. But it looks like that even if the remains of the late President Marcos will finally be buried at the Libingan ng mga Bayani and taps will be played, there will be no peace for Marcos. At least not in the foreseeable future. Maybe when all the protagonists in the martial law drama are all gone, then perhaps the nation can begin to see a more objective dissertation of the 20-year reign of Marcos, 12 years of which were under dictatorship.
Often been asked by people is that given the polarization that the burial will create, why does the Marcos family insist on burying Marcos at the LNMB? Why not simply bury him in Ilocos Norte where the man is well loved then build a monument for him that can serve as a tourist attraction, thereby providing his province a valuable service even in death?
There are no simple answers to these questions. One thing that should be done is to bury him as quickly as possible without any delays. Allowing it to linger will just be prolonging the controversy. The date of burial should have been included in the Supreme Court decision. Anything that the government will do will undoubtedly not satisfy those against the burial and judging by history when the former first lady embarks on ceremonies she always does it in a grand style. This will infuriate their enemies more.
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Today, President Duterte will embark on his first foreign trip outside the region. This is to attend the 24th Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Peru. It is indeed a taxing journey for a 71-year-old man and would not be easy for him. But it is good that he changed his mind and decided to attend the summit meeting of 21 leaders comprising the Apec. It will be a chance for him to be sized up by the other leaders and for him to size up the others as well.
He will be meeting most of these leaders in the next six years and is important for him that this early, he develops an early rapport with them. Our President is admittedly a new member of the club and probably will be observing and learning more than anything else. But many of the other leaders must also want to meet with him.
He expressed his wish to meet with the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, whom he said he admires. What they will be talking about is anybody’s guess but one will probably be arms procurement. Russia is the second-biggest arms exporter after the United States. And unlike the US, Russian armaments are a lot cheaper; they are good, too.
Take the case of the AK47. This firearm is used all over the world and is the preferred assault rifle not only of armies around the world but also by terrorist organizations because the rifle is cheap, reliable and lasts long.
Fighter aircraft is also another Russian export that is increasing rapidly. Russian fighter planes being used in Syria are proving their reliability and most of our neighbors are beginning to buy them. Malaysia has Russian fighter planes and plans on buying more. Indonesia is a traditional Russian arms buyer. China, even with its homegrown arms industry, also buys a lot of Russian armaments. Hopefully the public will be informed of the substance of their talks.
By all indications, President Duterte really wants to be less reliant on the United States. For us in the country who have been so used to presidents dealing with no one else but the United States, this is a jolt. But maybe it is really about time to wean ourselves from good old USA and try to explore other worlds out there. It would, of course, be preferable to open the country to relationship with other countries without damaging our longstanding relationship with the US. But it is probably too early to say that the drift away from the US is permanent. Following the victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections, President Duterte issued a statement to the effect of wanting to repair our relationship with the United States.