WHILE looking through Facebook, I came upon an image of several, presumably, Filipino mercenaries, with the subtitle: “First batch of Blackwater Philippines deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
It was an interesting image that reminded me of a topic that I had always wanted to write about but never had the chance to do so. So I thought I’d give it a go today.
Mercenaries have always been around in one form or another. In our current age, they are labeled as “Private Military Contractors” (PMC) but ultimately they mean the same thing: groups of men who fight for their own interests rather than their country.
Mercenary work has died down with the rise of nation-states, but they’ve been growing in number in recent years, particularly in regions where asymmetrical warfare (e.g. insurrection, terrorism, etc…) is on the rise. The reason for this is that many conventional armies are designed to fight other conventional armies. This puts them at a disadvantage in facing groups whose tactics are anything but conventional.
Executive Outcomes is one of the best examples, having originated in South Africa and became defunct in the late ‘90s. Blackwater is another good example, having gained notoriety in the so-called War on Terror.
A more recent example is the Wagner Group, and more are emerging.
Now, here’s my hot take. I think that PMCs are untapped sources of employment for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). There are already plenty of stories of Filipino soldiers joining up with PMC outfits. The only thing missing is to scale up the training and equipment.
Mercenary work is among the oldest in the world, and I would suggest is well-suited to our people. Filipinos don’t necessarily need to be gun-toting warriors. They can be auxiliary personnel or logistics contractors. These alone will be potentially lucrative forms of employment.
However, Filipinos may also have what it takes to be soldiers of fortune. The Mangangayaw is part of our history. Before the coming of Spain and Westernization, our people raided one another, fighting for pay and loot. So if mercenary work is making a comeback that could be a lucrative market for OFW’s.
The question is, are Filipinos up to it?/PN
