Next Monday the Aquino administration will formally install its third AFP chief of staff in one-and-a-half years. The first was Gen. Ricardo David Jr., now the commissioner of the Bureau of Immigration. The second is the outgoing chief, Gen. Eduardo Oban, who will have served eight months on the job. David also served for less than a year.
I have always believed that the “revolving door” policy on the post of AFP chief of staff was extremely detrimental to the institution, not only in terms of efficiency and effectiveness but more so in terms of promoting and enhancing the professionalism of the officer corps.
During her close to 10 years stint as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had eleven AFP chiefs. Of the eleven, one would serve for less than two months, six for less than a year, and four would complete a little over a year. It served her purpose to hold the entire officer corps in hostage as the scramble for position and favor made it almost impossible to create a sense of loyalty to the institution, rather than to an individual. It was also during this period that the greatest and most humiliating cases of corruption emerged from the AFP.
I believe President Aquino is moving towards correcting this debilitating situation.
There are a number of candidates for the post of AFP chief of staff, but right now the betting is only on two general officers, both belonging to PMA class 1979, both Army men, and both retiring in 2013.
Lt. Gen. Anthony Alcantara is the current AFP deputy chief of staff, the same post occupied by General Oban before he moved up to the top position in the AFP. If we go by precedence and proximity to the coveted position, Alcantara would be the candidate to beat. A former Philippine Constabulary officer, he left the PC to join the Army and rose to become head of the 6th Infantry Division in Mindanao.
Lt. Gen. Jessie Dellosa is the head of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) based at Camp Servillano Aquino in Tarlac. There are a few things that Dellosa and General David have in common aside from being both Army men. They served in the Presidential Security Group (PSG) under then-Col. Voltaire Gazmin during President Cory’s administration. In the case of Dellosa, he was the security officer during the near-fatal ambush of Noynoy Aquino along Nagtahan Bridge in August 1987. It was also from Nolcom that David moved into the position of AFP chief of staff.
If we also go by precedence and proximity to the powers that be, Dellosa would have the edge.
Choose your pick. As the saying goes in sporting events, “It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.” Or maybe, that should read, “It ain’t over till the bald man signs.”
In November 2006, a bicameral conference of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved a proposed law providing for a fixed term of three years for the AFP chief, and two years for the major service commanders—Army, Air Force and Navy. The bill died without ever seeing the gates of Malacañang as the incumbent moved to ensure the survival of her presidency in the face of questions concerning the legitimacy of her
reelection.
A similar bill has been ratified by Congress and is due for approval by President Aquino. However, it does not cover whoever may be the incumbent at the time the bill is signed. This means that whoever succeeds the incoming chief of staff, would probably be the first officer to enjoy the three years’ fixed term. Incidentally, the newly appointed Army commander, Maj. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, PMA class 1981, could be that person.
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Last week Penny and I had great fun marking an important milestone in the lives of two remarkable ladies.
Yollie Alcordo, wife of Dr. Jesus Alcordo, friends from Jakarta days, marked her 70th birthday with a book of her own poems, “Tagubilin,” which she dedicated to her eight grandchildren. Mother to John, country executive for GE Energy covering the Philippines and Guam; Jerome, an entrepreneur with his own company “Bouncing Balls, Inc.,” involved in digital animation; and Margarita, married to Jonathan Carlson, head of the Science & Math Department, Brent International, Yollie continues her work with the less fortunate in society particularly, the Joseph Gualandi School for the Hearing Impaired.
One of her poems, “Season of Shining,” reads:
My dream is the uplifting of our poor,
The heeding and the helping of all people in our land;
My vision that through a long, protracted rising,
The Philippines awakens to a brilliant, valiant dawn
For Marilou Samonte, wife of Brig. Gen. Rene Samonte, Wing Commander of the 15th Strike Wing of the Philippine Air Force, it was her 50th birthday. She was the last to know that the family had arranged something special for the occasion.
A University of the Philippines journalism graduate and professor of English at Assumption College, San Lorenzo, Marilou is the daughter of the man who taught me how to fly, Col. Juan Estoesta. As I mentioned in the past, Rene was my senior aide when I was chief of the Air Force.
The couple have three boys: Lt. Ryan Samonte is with the Army Scout Rangers headquarters in Bulacan after serving in Mindanao; Renmar is a first-class cadet at the Philippine Military Academy and will graduate next March; while Renward is a medical doctor who recently passed the board exams.
Perhaps, Lieutenant Samonte said it best about Marilou:
She was not the perfect mom but she made sure that
everything was perfect for us.
She was not the best mom but she always brought out the best in us.
She was not a magician but with the strokes of her hand she made us well when we were sick, sorry when we did something wrong, when we did what was right.
She was not a housewife. She was a career woman but she never missed any of our important occasions.
If all moms were like Yollie and Marilou, what a wonderful place the world would be.