Gov’t Employees’ Group Hits ‘Militarization’ of Bureaucracy

At least 25 generals now in Arroyo Cabinet, civilian bureaucracy

Insofar as the Confederation for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) sees it, the appointment of retired military and police officials to civilian posts poses a danger not only to the civilian bureaucracy, but to democracy itself.

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

Insofar as the Confederation for the Unity, Recognition, and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) sees it, the appointment of retired military and police officials to civilian posts poses a danger not only to the civilian bureaucracy, but to democracy itself.

Ferdinand Gaite, Courage national president, made this observation during a protest action condemning the recent appointment of retired Vice Admiral Tirso Danga as the new head of the National Printing Office (NPO) – the sole agency that is in charge of printing ballots.*

Gaite and his group see Danga’s appointment as the latest in a series of moves amounting to what they and other critics have described as the militarization of the bureaucracy – an observation Malacañang has disputed.

“Just because one or two retired military generals are appointed, it does not mean the government is militarized,” said Cerge Remonde, who was appointed as the new press secretary during a Cabinet revamp. “For one thing, they constitute a very small minority in the Cabinet, the sub-Cabinet and the entire bureaucracy. So it is an overreaction to say that the civilian bureaucracy has been militarized just because a number of generals had been appointed.”

But with Danga’s appointment to the NPO, there are now no less than 25 retired military and police officials appointed to powerful and sensitive civilian posts under the Arroyo administration.

Gaite said these appointments threaten the civilian bureaucracy and democracy itself, as these retired military men bring with them the military culture.

“Many have said that the military is the most undemocratic form of organization,” Gaite told reporters. “In the military, you just obey: you do not ask.”

“It should not be like that in the civilian bureaucracy,” Gaite added. “The bureaucracy requires a process in which everyone concerned should be consulted on their demands so that policies may be patterned in accordance with their interests.”

Besides Danga, other retired military and police officials recently appointed to civilian posts are Hermogenes Esperon, former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, who will be replacing Remonde as head of the Presidential Management Staff; and former Philippine National Police (PNP) director-general Avelino Razon, who will be occupying the helm of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Meanwhile, Malacañang has confirmed reports that Jovito Palparan, Jr. – a retired Army general who became notorious for the human rights violations committed in areas under his jurisdiction – will be given a leadership position in the Arroyo administration’s anti-drug campaign, as head of either the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) of the Dangerous Drugs Board (DDB).

These new appointees add to the growing list of retired military and police officials occupying civilian posts under the Arroyo administration – among them Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, Public Works and Highways Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes, and Transportation and Communications Secretary Leandro Mendoza.