What type of person is President Benigno Simeon Aquino III looking for to be the next Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff? Someone who has a concrete plan on how to stop corruption in the military. Aquino begun interviewing candidates for the post since Monday last week. He is now half way through the list of 10 potential AFP heads. “I was interviewing potential…candidates for chief of staff, one of the questions was how do you address (corruption in the military). Maraming mga suggestions, amongst them values formation," he said.
Aquino did not give the names of the candidates. “But more than anything there has to be a certainty. If you do something wrong, you will pay the price for it. There should be certainty, you do something wrong, you should pay the price for it," Aquino told reporters in a chance interview. AFP chief of staff Gen. Ricardo David will leave his post on March 2011 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. Corruption issues had been hounding the military in the past weeks with the revelation of former AFP budget officer Lt. Col. George Rabusa and the testimony of former state auditor Heidi Mendoza.
Rabusa alleged that several former military chiefs of staff received millions of pesos in pay-offs and misused and diverted the funds intended for the soldiers.
Mendoza, on the other hand, followed the money trail of former military comptroller Maj. Gen. Carlos F. Garcia, who is facing a P303-million plunder suit at the Sandiganbayan, the anti-graft court.
Garcia is out on bail after being allowed to plead guilty to two lighter offenses, even if the Sandiganbayan has yet to approve the plea bargaining agreement he made with Ombudsman special prosecutors. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, a former defense minister, said the corruption issues are bound to affect the morale of the soldiers on the field but Malacañang believe otherwise. “Hindi natin maiiwasan na some people will feel demoralized because of the allegations that are coming out," presidential communications development and strategic planning secretary Ricky Carandang said.
“But if the allegations are proven true, and the government and the Armed Forces can do what is necessary to correct that, then I think it will actually boost morale over the long term," he added.
President Aquino had said that he is no longer surprised with the revelations as he has reached his "saturation point" when it comes to the numerous anomalies being reported to him. — VVP/RSJ
