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Reforming
the Armed Forces
BY
Capt. Rene N. Jarque PA (ret.)*
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Introduction
The Magdalo Group mutiny last 27 July has again revived the issue of
unprofessionalism and corruption in the Armed Forces. The grievances show that
the AFP has not really changed much 17 years after the 1986 EDSA Revolution,
that past reform movements have not really renewed the AFP, that changes have
been merely cosmetic. In propaganda work, “a lie told a thousand times becomes
the truth” and one of the biggest lie told by many a general is that the AFP
has become professional. Sure, uniforms have changed and an AFP Theater and
Generals’Lounge have been built but meaningful changes that promote
professionalism, uplift morale and welfare and use resources efficiently have
not occurred. The Magdalo Group mutiny, removed of its political colors, I
believe, is a manifestation of the continuing frustration of the soldiers with
their officers and of the officers with the chain of command.
In this presentation, I will share my answers to four simple and basic questions
about military reform, answers that may be far more complicated than the
questions:
1) Is there a need for reform in the Armed
Forces?
2) What should be the areas for reform?
3) Is reforming the military possible?
4) Who are responsible for military reform?
Is there a need for reform in the Armed Forces?
Yes, definitely there is. The signposts of unprofessionalism and corruption are
everywhere -- the sergeant who sells combat boots and grenades, the major who
gets a kickback from purchases, the lieutenant who accepts bribes from illegal
loggers, the general who converts unit funds for personal purposes, the sergeant
who hides his incompetence through a padrino, the colonel who seeks promotion by
palakasan or sipsipan and every officer or enlisted personnel who receives an
allowance derived from an illegal practice called “conversion”. Poor
hospital conditions, shoddy maintenance of equipment, inadequate housing for
soldiers, unflyable planes and unsailable vessels, no first aid kits to field
units, lack of ammunition -- all these point to something fundamentally wrong
with the state of the AFP today and the need for reform.
At present, the Armed Forces can be likened to a crumbling, old house that is
tattered everywhere with its foundations weak and crumbling. No amount of
repainting and re-plastering of the walls or repairing the creaking floor will
make it stronger as the pillars and foundations are weak. It may look
ornate and pretty on the outside but the paint merely hides the rot in the
wooden panels. It may still be standing but termites are crawling
everywhere eating away the beams and pillars. What is required is a total
overhaul. The parades and uniforms look good but discipline and professionalism
is wanting.
With so many reform programs in the AFP after 1986 EDSA Revolution and several
coup attempts, one would ask, isn’t the AFP reformed yet? Yes, some reforms
have occurred and strides have been gained in civil-military relations, human
rights, training and strategic thinking. However, in terms of the overall
professionalism of the Officer Corps and in financial and logistics management,
much needs to be done. Fundamental problems and the reasons behind them have not
been addressed and no real, honest to goodness reform has happened. The AFP may
have lost its omnipotence during martial law but many practices that made it an
unprofessional and tainted organization during that period remain. In fact, many
of the unethical practices have been institutionalized.
I resigned from military service in 1998 but I have kept in touch with officers
and enlisted personnel and kept abreast of the situation in the AFP. I have
heard many remarks that the AFP has deteriorated instead of improving. My
readings show that succeeding governments and AFP chain of command after Marcos
have only made surface changes and genuine, profound reforms have not happened.
In my talks with soldiers, I get this feeling of hopelessness and helplessness
in the ranks. Talks about professionalism and integrity today, if
impressive to the civilian, are in fact, hollow in the hearts and minds of the
soldiers. Short term appointments, officers with questionable character
and competence in top posts, bad leadership, corruption and unethical conduct --
all these the soldiers are aware of but they cannot do anything about it
for the generals will squash dissent and they are afraid to lose their jobs.
Perhaps, I am being naive, too idealistic and even, stupid (and I am not trying
to be high and mighty about this as I too have been drawn into unprofessional
and unethical conduct while an Officer) but to me, more than any other public
servant, a soldier should practice the utmost professionalism, discipline and
integrity. The officers have taken an oath to serve the country and people
and the present state of the AFP fails to live up to that oath. It bothers me
that the generals and senior officers are unable to act accordingly on their
oath and build a credible and professional Armed Forces, despite knowing what is
wrong. This is a serious case of the lack of integrity and professionalism. And
what hypocrisy to declare themselves as professional and honorable. If
people only know the truth. Indeed, I feel saddened by the notion that the
present state of the AFP does not bring honor and dignity to the thousands of
soldiers who have died in service of the nation, that my friends and comrades
have died needlessly, not to preserve freedom but rather to make the politicians
and generals rich and happy. As Captain Maestrecampo rightfully asks “Saan ang
kabuluhan ng pagkapatay ng mga sundalo?”
In my resignation letter to the Secretary of National Defense in 1998, I wrote
candidly and perhaps, foolishly:
Sir…I want to leave because I feel that I am beginning to lose my self-esteem,
my self-respect and my sense of integrity in an organization that I believe is
unprofessional and corrupt. I have always believed that being an officer is a
noble vocation that officers follow the professional military ethic and treat
each other professionally. But what I have seen are officers, especially many
generals, who take advantage of the system for selfish and unethical purposes
and undercut each other for promotions and assignments. I always thought that
being an officer is a public trust that an officer does not lie, cheat, steal
nor tolerate those who do. But what I have seen are officers, including
Peemayers, who would not hesitate to lie to advance themselves or do anomalous
business transactions, who cheat the taxpayers of their money and who even
reward unethical conduct.”
Becoming a general is no longer an exciting prospect for me considering the kind
of officers being promoted to general rank. The only thing consistent about them
is the inconsistency of the standards which I find unacceptable and grossly
unfair. As many officers say, “di bale, snappy, shabby, the same salary at
napro-promote din naman”.
Until the Magdalo incident, President Arroyo lost sight of the fact that
military reform must still be a priority in the quest for good government or a
Strong Republic. AFP reform disappeared from the President’s radar
screen as she patronized the generals for two reasons: first, she needed the
help of the AFP to hold the numerous security problems in check and to maintain
a semblance of order and authority as she dealt with a rather unstable political
set-up; second, debt of gratitude for the AFP’s pivotal role in propelling her
to the presidency. She may not have wanted to antagonize the military or she
would be looked upon as “walang utang na loob” and risk losing the AFP’s
support. Insistence on military reforms may not have been a pragmatic
proposition as the country was still recovering and facing a variety of security
challenges. The military, which played a crucial role in her ascent also play a
crucial role in her survival. Today, President Arroyo still needs the support of
the AFP but I hope that her debt of gratitude will not get in the way of an open
and honest investigation of the corruption in the Armed Forces and of taking the
appropriate actions against erring senior AFP officers.
What are the areas for reform?
I believe there are two general areas that a military reform campaign should
address: unprofessionalism and corruption. Unprofessionalism refers to those
practices that undermine the three elements of the military profession as
explained by Samuel Huntington: expertise, responsibility, corporateness. In
other words, those decisions and/or actions that result in weakening or
destroying the manner with which the soldier can optimally perform his duty
within a framework of integrity and camaraderie. Examples are poor leadership,
tactical and technical incompetence, favoritism and nepotism, ticket-punching,
inexperience or lack of combat experience, promotions and appointments not based
on merit but on palaksasan and bata-bata, extracting personal services from
soldiers and criminal activities such as the blackmarketing scandal in East
Timor, human rights abuses or engaging in the drug trade or arms smuggling.
Another example of unprofessionalism is the misplaced priorities and follies of
AFP leaders -- building an AFP Theater when the AFP Medical Center cannot
provide decent health care, building a canopy over GHQ when the soldiers are
living in dilapidated barracks and using the soldier’s hard-earned money
in the RSBS to fund outlandish projects that merely enrich them and their
retired comrades. Stretching it further, unprofessionalism also includes
attitudes in the Officer Corps today like “Wait till you become”, “Go with
the flow”, “If you cannot beat them, join them”. Indeed, it is very
frustrating for a junior officer who is trying very hard to go through a
“progressive military career” and he sees his superiors getting promoted
without the requisite qualifications and experience, that while he “rots” in
the field to be a good soldier, he sees his peers “enjoying” in cozy
assignments in headquarters and get promoted just the same.
The other area is corruption. Like any government agency, the AFP has its own
share of the “normal” graft and corrupt practices such as commissions,
kickbacks, overpricing, padding, substitution, rigged biddings, under-delivery
and ghost delivery. This is common knowledge among suppliers, dealers, auditors,
supply officers, enlisted personnel and everyone involved in the supply and
finance chain. However, the AFP is involved in a far more sophisticated
form of corruption that can be called the “mother” of all corruption in the
AFP. This is the practice called “conversion”. It is the ultimate source of
abuse and corruption in the AFP that has caused demoralization in the ranks.
What is conversion and why is it a problem?
In an essay in the Army Journal in 1997, I defined conversion as “the process
of converting procurements to its cash equivalent”. Col. Ricardo Morales, a
fellow advocate for AFP reform, describes it in his essay in the same magazine
in 2001: “if an amount is originally intended for office supplies but is
instead spent for construction materials, this amount has to be ‘converted’
so that government accounting and auditing requirements are satisfied” (read:
circumvented). In the process of conversion, either from one expense item to
another or to outright cash, a certain percentage called the “cost of money”
is skimmed off the top which goes to everyone in the signature chain, from the
supply requisitioners to the auditors. Rates of 25% or higher are normal but the
dealer actually only gets somewhere between 9-16% as the rest goes to approving
and auditing authorities in various offices. Obviously, there are benefits and
downsides to the conversion process. An advantage is that it can buy things done
that government accounting and auditing procedures will not allow. For example,
an office can buy a much needed computer by converting excess fund allocation
for office supplies. In the field, a commander can use the converted cash for
operations such spare parts for trucks, batteries for radios, medicines for
civic projects, a goat for pulutan with village officials and food for visitors
at headquarters.
On the other hand, I see six major downsides to conversion:
1) First, it is illegal as it violates the AFP Procurement System. Chapter 1,
paragraph 1-3 section D of the AFP Procurement Manual states, “Conversion of
any kind must not be resorted to”. Conversion also violates COA Circular 81-09
regulating the conduct of inspections -- converted items are falsely declared.
Further, failure to follow the correct procurement process renders a government
official criminally liable under Republic Act 3019: The Anti-graft and Corrupt
Practices Act for “grave misconduct, dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the
best interests of the service”.
2) Second, it is subject to misuse and abuse in the hands of unscrupulous
officers and soldiers. As on record, converted funds are “cleared”,
commanding officers can use them practically for any purpose desired to include
personal expenses, allowances, travel “pabaon”, buy a house and car, pay
personal credit card bills, night-clubbing and philandering purposes.
3) Third, since items bought through converted funds are evidences of an
unethical act, they are not entered into the property book and can be taken
away. I have heard of offices buying laptops every time a new boss comes in
because they were taken by the previous occupants.
4) Fourth, conversion is essentially inefficient as the “cost of money” does
not maximize the use of that resource. Projects than need conversion must always
have the 25% on top of the projected expenditure. It also distorts the financial
planning process as the budget does not reflect actual expenditures and these
actual expenditures are not properly recorded.
5) The purchases and activities resulting from converted funds are foremost
sources of corruption, income discrepancies, professional jealousies and
demoralization in the Armed Forces. The lifestyle of officers and soldiers
receiving allowances derived from conversion are far more affluent than
those who rely on their salaries alone. The Captain who rides a jeepney and sees
a fellow Captain drive a nice car feels not only inadequacy but also resentment.
6) And the biggest downside of all is the adverse effect of conversion on the
professional ethics of the officers and soldiers who have to resort to it to
cover operational requirements and achieve the mission. It is a serious
violation of the Officer Code that “An Officer does not lie, cheat, steal nor
tolerate those who do”. It slowly and very subtly erodes the moral fibers of
soldiers involved in it. It is an anathema to the ethical and professional
development of an officer.
In many cases, a unit commander cannot be blamed for converting his funds.
Operations dictate particular sets of requirement but the budget allocated is in
a different accounting class. Coupled with stringent government accounting and
auditing rules and unscrupulous dealers and auditors, conversion becomes a
necessary evil, essential to accomplishing the mission. Hence, it is both
a solution and a problem. However, considering its downsides, it is more of a
problem that must be resolved. There must be a way to first control the
use of conversion and to audit the monies and properties derived from it.
Ultimately, it should be eliminated and replaced with a system that promotes
transparency and accountability.
Is Rebuilding the Armed Forces possible?
I have experienced attempting to reform the Armed Forces in both ways: the
violent way with implications in the 1987 and 1989 coup attempts and the
peaceful way through the “Rizal” way of writing about and advocating
military reforms. The failures of the 1987 and 1989 coup attempts are well
known. For the peaceful way, I figured that if it cannot be done through the use
of the sword, I can push reform through the power of the pen. So I wrote, wrote
and wrote -- in magazines, letters to the editor, research papers, even letters
to our lawmakers. When I was editor of the Army Journal, I transformed it to be
a “forum for professional issues” and not just the sounding board or photo
album for the generals. We started publishing essays critical of Army systems
and for a while, got away with it. But today, all I see are benign and
non-critical articles. It has not evolved into an “an agent of
progressive ideas and constructive change…to create a progressive-minded
Officer Corps and a professional Army”. I did a similar approach with the
Cavalier magazine of the Philippine Military Academy and for a while got away
with it as well until I had to resign as editor after writing a stinging
editorial mocking the PMA motto entitled, “Courage, Integrity, Loyalty, Yeh
Right!”.
Thus, if my experience is any indication, the chain of command does not listen
very well to soundings of reform. No amount of coup attempts and mutinies,
Davide Commissions, Congressional Hearings and millions of pages about military
reform have made a real difference. In fact, many of the abhorrent practices in
the AFP have become so entrenched that it will be difficult to untangle them.
Yes, there is a grievance system in the Armed Forces but it does not work as it
ought to. Legitimate complaints and constructive criticisms are clamped down by
the chain of command as insubordination, dissent or worse, rebellion. Once in a
while, you get crazy guys like Admiral Wong, Commander Angue, Captain Lim and
LTSG Trillanes who will openly denounce corruption and unprofessionalism. The
outcome? Some are relieved, some get co-opted back and promoted or given good
positions, others are silenced with threats, others, like myself, resign.
One thing is constant however -- the complaints are on the whole ignored and
eventually forgotten, no genuine actions are taken and later, everything goes
back to normal again. For now, we can only hope that the investigations being
conducted and the Feliciano Commission formed by the government are
serious, sincere efforts and not merely “palabas” and eventually a useless
exercise. For what has happened to the results of the Davide Commission?
Where has the idealism of the officers involved in previous coup attempts gone?
And what has happened to the Armed Forces of the Philippines? From past
experience, there is cause for pessimism that the government will not take
serious action and the AFP will not undertake comprehensive reform.
Over the years, official proclamations on reform have been mere lip service and
unethical conduct has been openly tolerated and even encouraged. How many times
have we heard a Chief of Staff or Commanding General proclaim that the AFP has
become professional? But no senior officer has been caught or punished for
financial wrongdoings. It has become a never-ending cycle of abuse and
corruption to which there is seemingly no end, from one Chief of Staff to
another, one Commander in Chief to the next. Nobody seems to be really
listening. Look at what is happening now. Whether intentionally or not, the
issue of corruption raised by the Magdalo group has been overshadowed by other
issues. They call this in Psychological Operations, diversion. The reputation of
the mutiny leaders is also being questioned. When the counter-propagandist
cannot directly refute the issues, they destroy the source’s credibility. This
is called indirect refutation. Sooner or later, the corruption issues raised by
the Magdalos are likely to be forgotten. Indeed, anyone advocating
reform in the AFP is a voice in the wilderness and the frustration of the
Magdalo group when it comes to the AFP chain of command not listening is
understandable, but not their action at Oakwood.
Military reform will not come easy and will come with great risks to the Arroyo
administration or to any administration. It will be an uphill battle against
former generals who will be offended when human rights abuses and corrupt
financial transactions are exposed. There will be resistance from those whose
careers and economic interests will be threatened -- unscrupulous defense
officials, senior officers, politicians and influential suppliers. It will be
difficult because the very generals and colonels now running the system
benefited or are benefiting from it. How can one reform a corrupt system that is
protected by the generals from all sides, those still in the service, those in
government service and those who are already retired. Plus you have the
connections with politicians and big businessmen. By admitting that the system
is defective puts into question their own rise in the ranks and their positions.
As for conversion, why kill the goose that lays the golden egg?
Indeed, it will be difficult but not hopeless. I am not entirely pessimistic and
I believe that with political will, moral courage and the right management,
rebuilding the professionalism and integrity of the Armed Forces is possible. As
many say, it cannot be done overnight but we must start sometime, somehow.
Indeed, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Many say that
unprofessionalism and corruption is an ethical or moral problem. Yes, morality
is an issue but that will take time to change. To effect quick changes, they
should be looked at as management problems that can be controlled and managed.
Where management voids are glaring, unprofessionalism and corruption follows.
Military reform should be approached as if it was a change management project
with clear objectives, systematic processes and well-structured, motivated teams
with good leaders. Performance, transparency and accountability shall be the
name of the game.
Turning-around the AFP can be done. What is lacking in AFP reform is the
political resolve and the moral courage to face the risks and take action. I
have been involved in change programs and yes, it will not be easy and will come
with a lot of sacrifice on the part of the leaders. Top management commitment,
support and example are very important ingredients, things that have been absent
in military reform actions in the past and until now. Management turnover
is quick--look at the number of CSAFP in less than year -- thus, there is no
consistency. There is also no real motivation to be committed to change or
reform as fixing conversion, for example, is a threat to personal economic
interests. The lack of competence among officers to drive changes is another
factor. But there are well-meaning, competent and quick-learning officers who
can lead a reform campaign without a mutiny.
One other thing that needs to be corrected if reform is to be an acceptable idea
to the AFP Command is the concept of “criticism”. The general mindset today
is that anything which points out the wrongdoing of senior officers is
considered as “insubordination”. Orders in combat are one thing but telling
a commander that he is not supposed to use unit funds for personal use is
another. It is a sign of professionalism not insubordination. In my case, I was
branded a “rightist rebel” in my early days as a lieutenant when I got
involved in the 1989 coup attempt. Then, when my father, General Jarque,
defected to the NDF in 1993, I was branded a “left-leaning” rebel. The funny
thing is that I was advocating the same issues of unprofessionalism and
corruption in the AFP which know no boundaries of ideology, right, left or
center. For me, it was just the right thing that a professional officer ought to
do. It did not occur to the AFP chain of command that I was just trying to be a
progressive officer and a professional soldier.
Who are Responsible for AFP Reform?
There is a saying in the military, “The Commander is responsible for
everything that the unit does or fails to do”. As the commanders in the AFP
come from the Officer Corps, I say that the present state of unprofessionalism
and corruption in the military is a failure in leadership of the Officer Corps.
Clearly, the fault and the responsibility lies in the officers and their
collective failure to build a truly professional military. It is in the Officer
Corps where both the problem and the solution lies. Directives and laws will not
solve unprofessionalism and corruption. A dedicated pool of leaders and managers
is needed not only to implement the directives and policies but also to
set the example. Certainly, the future of the Armed Forces, whether it improves
or regresses, is in the hands of the Officer Corps.
One reason I resigned from the military service was because I felt that the
professional milieu in the AFP was no longer acceptable to my sense of
integrity. Looking back, there was nothing faulty with the AFP as an
organization. The fault-line lay deeper--in its leaders. The ultimate
reason for the AFP’s failure as an institution to uphold the virtues of the
profession of arms lies in the Officer Corps. The unprofessionalism and
corruption in the AFP today are merely reflective of the professional and moral
bankruptcy of the Officer Corps. At the core of reform is the integrity of the
officers -- from the Lieutenant to the General, from the platoon leader to the
Chief of Staff. The Martial Law years disoriented the values of the
Officer Corps and many of that era’s attitude and practices remain today. Over
the years, as a result of government neglect and public apathy, officers have
been accustomed to unethical practices as a way of getting around a rigid system
in order to provide for legitimate operational requirements. In the hands
of unscrupulous officers, these practices are abused for personal gain and
power.
What is intriguing is that the AFP senior staff are mostly Peemayers and in
large measure, Peemayers must share the blame and the responsibility for the
dismal state of the Armed Forces (and also the Philippine National Police). The
despicable state of the Officer Corps today is, for the most part, the result of
action and/or inaction of Peemayers who have failed to live up to the Academy
motto of Courage, Integrity, Loyalty, who have chosen the easier wrong to the
harder right. The “mistah” system has seemingly become a code of omerta and
a protection racket. PMA has been successful in churning out officers for a
progressive and lucrative military career but it has utterly failed in imbuing
cadets and officers with character, moral courage and integrity. And the
Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association has been conspicuously silent
about the actions of its members. Another organization that has been quiet is
the Association of General and Flag Officers whose members, were once the top
AFP leaders.
Necessarily, due to the hierarchical structure of the AFP, a peaceful and
relatively quicker reform campaign must start from the top. The approach must be
top-down. Inputs from the bottom must, however, be generated and buy-in created
to ensure an effective reform process. But today, given the overall character
and quality of the Officer Corps and the top chain of command, I have serious
doubts whether the Armed Forces of the Philippines can police its own self and
reform from within. Reforming the AFP will be difficult but it is not hopeless
for so long as there are officers who try to live up to the ideals and indeed,
there are officers who try to be professional and honest. As the Marines say,
“we need a few good men”. Unfortunately, it is these few good men who do not
rise for they are too honest for their own good. The hope for reform lies in the
junior officers of today who unfortunately are slowly being corrupted and eaten
up by the present corrupt system. How to shield these junior officers from the
rotten acts of their superiors and promote professional ethics in their ranks as
they rise in their military career is going to be a serious challenge. But it is
a must if we are to build a professional and honest Officer Corps which means a
professional and honest Armed Forces.
Towards this end, I believe that the civil sector should play a role in
reforming the military by way of pressure, by keeping the reform process alive,
by opening up issues and concerns to the public. The role of Congress is
essential as reforming the AFP will require the enactment of laws or the review
of existing laws governing the military and defense. Perhaps, Congressional
inquiries “in aid of legislation” can be more forthright and sincere in
opening up and publicly discussing sensitive professional and ethical matters
such as conversion and political intervention in promotions and assignments.
They should continue the pressure for prosecution of generals involved in the
RSBS scandal for which even the retirement funds of the soldiers were not
exempted from their crookedness. Lifestyle checks should focus on senior
officers as not all of them can have heiresses as wives.
However, more than the Legislative, it is the Executive branch that should lead
the reform process. The Department of Finance and/or Budget and Management
can investigate the matter of conversion -- as it is very difficult to find
witnesses and evidences without the cooperation of the AFP -- and devise ways to
minimize, if not to eliminate, graft and corrupt practices in the AFP. The
President is the Commander in Chief and therefore holds ultimate command
responsibility for the AFP. The President’s decisions and actions will dictate
the intensity and tempo of reform. In the end, the failure to reform the AFP is
the failure of the Commander in Chief. Hence, the biggest question of all is
whether the Commander in Chief, the President, has the moral courage and the
political will to initiate fundamental reforms.
A Brief Word on the Magdalo Group Mutiny
I recall my experiences in 1987 and 1989 and I cannot help but see myself in the
soldiers at Oakwood. Whether they were used or manipulated is the subject of an
investigation and I will not dwell into that. What I would like to say though it
that in the young officers mind, I surmise a messianic complex compounded by a
sense of adventurism and misguided idealism. A major factor in the creation of
this mindset is the politicization of the soldiers in the field where they are
exposed to the inadequacies of the government and the Armed Forces. In trying to
accomplish their mission of “wining the hearts and minds” of remote
barangays, soldiers become involved in the life of the communities in their
areas of responsibility. In many cases, they take over government
responsibilities where they are lacking in the form of medical and dental civacs,
education programs and other organizing and development projects.
Then after experiencing the hardships in their detachments, they visit Camp
Aguinaldo or Fort Bonifacio and they see a glaring inequity in lifestyle. While
they are “rotting” in the field, their senior officers are “enjoying” in
the camps. While they find it difficult to source funds to fix their jeeps and
trucks in the mountains, majors and colonels drive around in nice cars in Metro
Manila. While they receive a meager salary, they find that their comrades and
mistahs are getting unauthorized allowances double or triple their basic
salaries. Frustration sets in and the barrel of the gun, and the inherent sense
of power that comes with it, becomes a way to release that frustration. That
frustration and idealism can be manipulated by scrupulous people who will
use it for their own ends. It is indeed sad to see such promising officers go to
waste. As a former officer, I agree to the nobility of their cause but not the
means.
Yes, the means the employed is disagreeable but the cause that they espoused in
denouncing corruption in the Armed Forces is very much alive. I had the same
questions when I was a junior officer: to whom can we go to if the chain of
command is not listening? Perhaps, in the minds of the Magdalos, bringing their
cause to the Filipino people was the best thing to do and perhaps, even the most
honorable as indeed, they are soldiers of the Filipino people and not of the
generals and politicians.
Conclusion
Having been an officer, I continue to feel responsible for the dismal state of
the AFP today. Thus, I continue to advocate for military reform as I cannot
accept the current state of the AFP despite the rosy rhetoric from the generals
about a “reformed” AFP. The cries and gripes of the Magdalo group say
otherwise. And there are thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen who are mute
witnesses to the unprofessionalism and corruption in the AFP that continues to
fuel discontent and frustration. The threat of a coup or a mutiny can only be
neutralized if we reform the AFP for it to be a responsible and honest
organization led by a professional Officer Corps. Why I continue to advocate
military reform despite the seeming impossibilities? A parable which appeared in
the Army Journal in June 1994 is, I believe, an appropriate answer. In the end,
I can only change myself and not the world.
A long time ago, a philosopher went to a city to save its people from their sins
and tell them the good news. At first, people listened to him
but gradually, they turned away. However, the philosopher continued to
preach and this time, even louder. People did not understand and asked
themselves
“Why does he go on? Does he not see that his
mission is hopeless? Then one day, a curious child asked
the wise man why he went on and on. The philosopher calmly
replied, “In the beginning, I thought I could
change them. If I still shout today, it is only to prevent them from changing
me”.
No amount of lessons in democracy nor instilling the concept of civilian
authority over the military can prevent another military mutiny or coup attempt
in the future. Only by reforming the Armed Forces and creating a professional
and honest Officer Corps can we be assured that the military will know its
rightful place in a democratic society. For the sake of the country and our
people, for our children and posterity, the Armed Forces of the Philippines must
be reformed.
July
2003
(Paper
Distributed/Read at a Public Forum "Understanding the Oakwood Mutiny"
Sponsored by BAYAN, 16 Aug. 2003 PCED Hostel UP Diliman, Quezon City)
=============
About the author
Rene N. Jarque is a former Philippine Army officer who served as Special
Assistant to the Secretary of National Defense and spearheaded the effort to
produce the first Defense Policy Paper (In Defense of the Philippines, 1998). He
was Chief of Strategic Research of the Office of Strategic and Special Studies,
Armed Forces of the Philippines wherein he published several papers on security
concerns and defense-military management and represented the AFP in
international security conferences. Scout Ranger, Airborne and PSYOPS
qualified, he served in a variety of command and staff positions in the First
Scout Ranger Regiment, 5th Infantry Division and the Psychological Operations
Group. He authored the manual on Psychological Operations and co-authored
a Scout Ranger manual. He was a lecturer in AFP schools with the distinction of
Best Instructor Award and was editor of the Army Journal, Cavalier and the
OSS Digest. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, West Point,
class of 1986, and has an MBA from the Ateneo Graduate School of Business.
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