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Part of Article about Filipino troops in Vietnam
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Dov(.'lrly neepe __ -
64 Hong Thnp TU
Sn.igon, Vietnam
April 22, 1967
Open Arms-p ge 1
!GO.i: -Fi'.lipino counter-guerrilla. experts have adcled their know-how
to the crucial Open Arms program here to lure more Communist dafeotors to the
lliod side.
<l �
·Filipino
The
t
sto.tionod in Vietnrir:•f'l provinces,
are all veterans
of tho Philip.. ine government• s -r,mr ageinst pro-Communist Buk in.,urgentn some
:fifteen yezrs ago.
o:ffiocr
Most of these vetorano o.ro middle-agod, retired Army
o opecializcd in land reform, intelligonoe-gathering, psyohologloal
warfare and community d_ovelopment to defe .t the Huko.
$0L1e
o Japanenc
force □ during
orld v1
II.
ere
:3l'Il
'th P.mcricmi
In Vietnam, oooe have been so e·<>fectiva in their
jobs th t the Communist V1ct Cong have put a prioe on their heads.
(More)
..
op�n rms-page 2
The Filipinos are under contra.ct to the
u. s.
Development (AID) and ai•e paid from .American funds.
Agency for International
They assist Vietname�e
government civil servants ox·king in the provinces on the Open .Arms program,
hioh conoi «.:ts of ·1elooming Communist defectors in provincial. centers,
f'eeding,
o and clothing them for their 45-day stay there, screening, classifying
and interrogating them and t
T'a
, to build Open
p:.'ogr'run t
then helping them find jobs in the cities or
Arme:: hamlets.
culled Cm.au IIoi in Vietnamese;
is vie,--red by officials
as a chortout to victory-a shortcut that.oiil!!!�pi Philippine PTooi cnt Ramon
rJsays�y u cd ·o defeat the Huk. insurgents.
agsaysay•s
approach ent".ilcd an i:ron :r·ight-hand of milito.ry poi.rer :vhile extending
simul tancously ths
ai:!13�-
gentle, friendly left-glove of social justice.
He maenstized the liuk.s to the anti-Communist i e dth ''land for tho land-less;"
he sent military encince:r units to oloar 1-rge � trao t:� of jungle to 7-ve
the poaceful 0x�Huks homl.�teads on eaoy payments if they would lay dol.l!l their
.capon.,.
inoc the Open Arms program began in 1963,
more than 60, 000
Viet Cong,--roughly oix of their divisions--have switched aides to aooept
the Vietnamese govornmentfe offers of amnesty, full citizenship rights and
resettlement in south Viotnam•s society.
In 1966• 20, 242 Communists
defeoted and joined the Open Arms program;
3000 Allied ooldiers would have been
number on the battlefield.
{More)
r
offici s estimate more than
killed attempting to eliminate that
...... !>0'"'!Ji3
Open Arms--page 3
T-.rpioal of these Filipinos& is Roque ("Rocky")
e Reyes, a
50-year-old retired military intelligence officer and community development
serving as as adVisor to� the Vietnamese Open Arms chief in
expert no
�en Roque first arrived in QuangNgai province
returnees packed into a small p:roVincial Open
a. s seourity guards h::id not yet boen " rmcd.
he :found 160
rrns center;
·.1eek la tor,
returnees acting
the Viet Cong
nlanted a sr1tchel charge amidst the sleopinb r0tw.,nces, killing ono and
wounding 22.
No\7 three months later,
threo concrete buildings have been completed,
enough to houne 600 returnees sleeping in double-deck beds.
bomboo fence ,ur:round
armed.
the center;
returnees seCU1'ing the shelter have been
Somo of tho returnees arc learning tailor"lng;
learning embroidering;
A ten-foot·-tall
youne girls are
basket-weaving and fishnet-weaving have boen
introduced.
Returnees ,'7b.o are sk:Uled as ce:rpenters and masons help construct
the Open Arms officesJ
a Vietnamese teacl:.er holds adult educa.tj_on coursesJ
movies end medicine a.re brought in eekly.
Roque and hio Vietnamese
c ounterp :rt ht'!ve more plans for the future-including a returnoe-oper ted
barber shop,
an Open Arms cooperative,
i'arming mcthod.s,
a demonstration plot for improved
an elootrio gonerntor for lichtinc- a.nd an incubator for
hatching duck eggs.
Attempts aro being made to distrj.buto small fnrr.ai.ng
plots fo to some returnees.
provincio.l program,
Because of the vaat improvement s in the
the Viet• Cong have put a price on Roque• s hend.
'
'
.
"
+
>.. Deepe
Opo.r. Arm s-pri,ee 4
nut ho is not worried.
During the Philippine var.,
tho IIuks launched
an all-n.i.{ht ra.id on his house a,nd :failed in three attempts to kill him.
Uoque served vr.i t.i1
.American guerrillas during Jo:rld ar II,
11 eleven years in he Philippine Army,
intelligence,
then
specializing :i.n
and t en noved into C()mmunity development work.
He was
a me:nbor of the n .M.:itiona.l Land Refo:rm Council before volunteering to come
to Vietnam.
similar to thoso tha.iti: .faced the Philippine governoent in f'ightinB the
p:ro-Communist uks.. One of these problems is corruption a,nd mismanagement
......_ a ..__few,;
__ �,,,.
on the part o� ,ifirlr@Wiece govcrrunont of'ficialo in the 0pon J,nns pl'06l'f'.m.
__
11
voice, u
n
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'.l.1'ne::re have been sovercl incidents
sa __,,,
one rLuict, seriou.... Filipino ,mo
ks ,.. fte:r I arl'ived,
the Open A
s
in which I had to raise my
did :not wnnt to be identified.
I ::rent to the rrcu·ohouso to eet
�i
returneos and the blank ts had big holes in them.
Vietnnmef:o ':'OVerr.ment people didn• t cH.i.re.
blc1.nk:etJfor
c
I had to remind them tha·t the
returnoos hnd been their enemies and now you want them to be your friends,
so you hav, to treat them vell.
1
:i.\10n
i7:!0
reeks later,
r-t.
ooooncl incident happened.
The returnees
oaid the gov,.,rnment officio.ls •;mre giving them only 150 pia •tres (roughly
1.50)
a. month for nocket money, instead of tho 200 piastre� ( 2) which is legally
I made a reiort to th§..p�ovin�eh �hief
c.HP. �
_ .,u.J r't'/
(A Vietname:-Je adminiotra.tor roughly similar to an American t;,ffl&hibi·�•
allotted to them for that purpose.
scolded the Open Arms chief.
'sine e
then the
·
·;) 1/
en ,AJ:,ns chief
grew aloof.
Thero• s a big gnp bet '
him and me now. 'M Someone must do somothing to make -tho Viatnrmesf' ·rovernme...
e had the samo problem.in the Philippines., ��t :hc 1
officials moro honest.
Filipinos ,..,.oro amatew.� 8 JJ'hen it oome to oo:rruptJ.on oompr:>red to. tho. �._r 7i'//t7
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