IT SHOULD COME AS NO SURPRISE TO THE NEW chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines that President Macapagal-Arroyo?s legitimacy problem extends even, or especially, to his own appointment. Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, code-named ?Emperor,? ought to know that his perceived closeness to the appointing power will always be suspect?at least until President Arroyo actually turns Malacañang over to her successor, as scheduled, on June 30. It?s not his fault; it?s hers.

The President has a habit of using her considerable presidential powers for purposes other than the genuine national interest. In particular, she stands accused of subverting the presidential election of 2004 with the help of conniving election commissioners and compliant military generals.

To be sure, at Wednesday?s turnover of command rites in Camp Aguinaldo, the President used her most categorical language yet about stepping down. ?We remain deeply committed to smooth transition to a new government,? she said. It is unlikely, however, that this statement will be heard by many people as the reassurance it was meant to be. When the President failed to use her last State of the Nation Address to even talk about a transition, in marked contrast to the example set by Corazon Aquino in July 1991, public distrust of her intentions hardened, like cement.

Bangit used the ceremony at military headquarters to dispel the notion that he was appointed to the AFP?s top post merely to watch the President?s back. ?I will not allow anybody to use me for partisan politics,? he said at the ceremony. He also said (?I am sorry if that is not what you wanted to hear,? he joked) that he had never received illegal orders from the President.

That may well be (and we note that a healthy sense of self-awareness is always welcome). But the President?s track record, ever since the crisis of legitimacy engulfed her presidency in 2005, when the ?Hello, Garci? scandal detonated, suggests that public suspicion about Bangit?s appointment is well-founded.

In the first place, the appointment of the President?s new favorite general comes at a time of political stress. The country is undergoing a less-than-smooth transition to fully automated elections. While the surveys show an electorate generally optimistic about the automated election system, the Commission on Elections is barely meeting its deadlines under its own revised timetable.

Secondly, the rotating power outages in various parts of the country, especially in certain areas in Mindanao, have added to the worries over both the automation exercise itself and possible attempts by an administration reluctant to leave power to manipulate the results.

Thirdly, and most chillingly, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile has sharpened public fears about the possibility of a general failure of elections by proposing, in case of such a calamitous failure, something not only unconstitutional but anti-democratic: for the AFP and the Philippine National Police to temporarily take over the government. Coming from an astute lawyer who has the ear of the President, this sounds disconcertingly like the laying of a dangerous predicate.

The new executive secretary, Leandro Mendoza, himself a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy and once chief of the PNP, tried to dispel speculations about Bangit?s ultimate loyalty by referring to the ?professional? nature of the military organization. ?Once you?re appointed, your focus is not personal anymore. [It?s] not on the appointing authority anymore but, particularly, on your institution.?

But Mendoza is not exactly the right person to talk about professional rather than personal loyalty. Like another former general, Angelo Reyes, he has stuck with President Arroyo through thick and thin, since taking control of the PNP after Edsa 2. Indeed, Mendoza belongs to that growing group of generals, both in and out of active service, who have done the President?s bidding at all times.

Despite Bangit?s brave assertions??Our country needs to move on. For this we need credible elections??the verdict is still pending: Is he merely one of them?