ON TARGET

By Ramon Tulfo
PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, NEWS
8 December 1989

We hope that the latest coup that ended yesterday has jolted President Aquino into realizing that her government can stand a lot of improvements.

The young, idealistic officer who joined the coup wanted a government free from corruption and working efficiently.

Perhaps Ms. Aquino can start mending fences by firing her corrupt or inept subalterns and putting her foot down on her influence-peddling relatives.

One of the young, idealistic officers who fought on the “other side” is Capt. Danny Lim of the elite 1st Scout Ranger Regiment.

He was a scholar of the University of the Philippines when he decided to join the military. He topped the qualifying exams for the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Lim graduated from West Point in 1978.

But it was not Lim’s scholastic record which earned him the fierce trust and respect of his men.

As a second lieutenant in Jolo, Sulu, this bespectacled, quiet and unassuming officer became a terror among Muslim secessionist rebels when he led successful attacks on their turfs.

He is one of the most decorated officers in the AFP. Lim’s medals in the Sulu Campaign include the gold Cross for gallantry in action, four military merit medals and a Combat Commander’s Kagitingan Badge with one Silver Star.

In more recent times, as a member of the Scout Ranger Regiment, Lim was mentioned in a New People’s Army publication, “Vizcaya-Quirino Letters of the Revolution” along with Brig. Gen. Marcelo Blando, former Scout Rangers chief, as having wrought havoc on the NPAs in the region.

I’ve had the opportunity of getting to know Danny Lim. He was introduced to me last year by a friend, Lt. Col. Romeo Lim, also of the Scout Ranger (we wonder if he also joined the coup) but they are not related.

I found Danny Lim a very articulate and intelligent officer who is driven by a desire to rid of the countryside of the NPA guerillas.

This is not an appeal for soft treatment of Lim and his fellow conspirators. Rather, this is an attempt to show a general profile of the officers who led the latest coup.