Suharto – the smiling
and kind general

I saw the burial on TV of the late Indonesian President Suharto. His grave was modest as befits a Muslim.

That is the traditional burial of an Islamic believer. No frills, no monument on top of his grave. The King of Saudi Arabia, for example, is lowered into a common man's grave. Nothing distinguishes it from that of the ordinary man.

But that's not the point. I just remember my first glimpse of Suharto who was soon to become President of Indonesia after the coup against the late President Sukarno.

It was in Bandung in Central Java . The site of the First Afro-Asian Islamic Conference. I was a member of the Philippine Islamic delegation to the meet. And Suharto had invited the delegates to a party.

At the time, the chairman of the Philippine delegation was Rep. Salih Ututalum of Sulu. The vice chair was Rep. Rasid Lucman of Lanao del Sur who brought along his wife, later, Lanao del Sur Governor Tarhata. Also with us were then Commissioner of Cultural Minorities (later Ambassador to the Middle East ) Abraham Rasul and wife, Senator Santanina Rasul, the late Admiral Romulo Espaldon, Col. Karil Pundol and several other Filipino Muslim leaders.

As he moved among the guests, I noticed that Suharto was a smiling military man. Not the feared dictator that he later turned out to be. He moved around graciously. Intently listening to comments by the guests.

I had anticipated a strait-laced solider. Instead, he was just a gentleman moving around with compete aplomb. I had learned the day earlier that word had been sent to Foreign Minister Subandrio, head of the Partai Komunis Indonesia that Suharto and his Sulawangi Division could not guarantee his safety in the city which had a strong presence of the Darul Islam.

I was in the Philippines already when I learned about the aborted counter-coup by Sukarno (or was it the PKI) and later that coup against Sukarno. I had earlier put my bet on General Nasution, the Armed Forces chief of staff, as the most likely successor to Sukarno. But there were some points against Nasution. First, he was Sumatran. And Java was the most populous region of Indonesia . Besides, Nasution just managed to escape the assassins who had tried to kill him.

Thus, Suharto took over the presidency. What resulted later was the massacre of some 500,000 Indonesians. Although that was blamed on him, Suharto seemed to have nothing to do with it. It was just the Muslims who raged against the communists for trying to stage a takeover of Indonesia .

That is one of the most controversial facets of Suharto's role in the history of Indonesia . And that was the common belief among outsiders that he had ordered the massacre. But I have my doubts about that. As I had pointed out, Darul Islam was behind the refusal of Suharto to allow Subandrio into Bandung . Meaning that he was aware of the profound resentment by the radical Muslims against the communist.

History will tell later the truth about the bloody episode in Indonesia 's history.

***

But there was another remembrance that reared as I listened to the welcome by his relatives of Norberto Manero in North Cotabato .

Hardly anybody remembers that Manero was better known in the past as Commander Bucay. His wife was also Commander Inday. They both belonged to the Ilaga, mostly Ilonggos of North Cotabato, the fierce and feared civilian warriors in the secessionist war in Mindanao with the MNLF on the other side.

I had gone to General Santos City as Asia Week correspondent for Southern Philippines with then Defense Undersecretary Carmelo Barbero.

Barbero conferred with then Mayor Tony Acharon of General Santos. And he presented Acharon with complaints from the human rights group denouncing the alleged atrocities by Commander Bucay and Inday against the Muslims.

Acharon pointed out to Barbero that he could not locate Manero. But he also went out of his way to tell Barbero that the city residents had a soft spot for Manero whom beleaguered defenders of the city were almost exhausted by their fight city against the MNLF when commanders Bucay and Inday arrived with their respective groups and battled the secessionists. And forced them to withdraw from the city which they had already invaded.

Barbero was meeting later with Gen. Miranda when somebody approached me with the information that Manero was around. And escorted to him with the promise that I was not going to tell Barbero about it. It seems that Manero wanted to tell his side of the tales about him.

So, I went with the guide who escorted me to an isolated spot distant from where Barbero and the military officiers were meeting.

I saw him and Commander Inday sitting on a stone ledge. But instead of the feared warrior (I had a copy of the photograph showing him and Commander Inday holding aloft the severed heads of two victims) and immediately identified Manero.*

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