Honor

QUESTION: WHICH is the best business school in the country today?

Answer: The Philippine Military Academy.

This is a joke being circulated in text messages and being retold in coffee shops in the wake of the revelation of some generals’ and colonels’ corrupt practices and anomalous deals in recent Senate and House hearings. The joke may be unfair, because the great majority of the PMA graduates in the Armed Forces of the Philippines are honest and incorruptible, but some bad eggs who, according to revelations in congressional hearings, took advantage of their official positions to amass fortunes, have tarnished the name of the PMA.

The development of character is one of the crucial aspects in the education and training of a PMA cadet. It is a fundamental objective which the academy tries to achieve through the Honor Code and the Honor System. A PMA cadet binds himself to the Honor Code which says: “We, the cadets, do not lie, steal or tolerate among us those who do so.” Their motto—which stresses their core values—is “Courage, Integrity and Loyalty.”

The Honor Code says: A PMA cadet does not lie. He always tells the truth regardless of the consequences. He does not cheat. He does not defraud others, nor does he take undue advantage of them. A cadet does not steal. He does not take the personal property of another without the latter’s consent.

PMA cadets bind themselves to these rules while in the academy, but later, as officers, as they rise in the military hierarchy, do they all remain truthful, trustworthy and honest?

The motto of the United States Military Academy at West Point (after which the PMA is patterned), is “Duty, Honor and Country.” Maj. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor, who was once superintendent of West Point, gave the rationale of the Honor System in a speech: “[T]he inexact or untruthful soldier trifles with the lives of his fellow men and the honor of his government.” Thus, he said, the Honor System has its roots both in ethical considerations and in practical military necessity.

We would think that “courage” (including moral courage), “integrity” and “loyalty” are the three words that should be foremost in the minds of PMA cadets, not only when they are in the academy but even after they have left it and have embraced the profession of soldiery. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, called the American Caesar and one of the most famous West Pointers, said, “The soldier, above all other men, is required to practice the greatest act of religious training—sacrifice.” Because of their profession, when called upon by the circumstances, soldiers must be ready to sacrifice life itself.

But judging from the revelations in recent congressional hearings, some generals and other officers cannot even make the sacrifice of living on their legal salaries. They have thrown the three words—courage (moral), integrity and loyalty (to the people)—to the winds. Instead, they have made wealth, luxury and self the governing words in their lives. Some have forgotten the essence of the PMA Code of Honor.

Some people, legislators among them, have called for the abolition of the PMA in the wake of the disgrace brought upon the academy by some generals who have allegedly enriched themselves at public expense. But we do not think it is the fault of the academy. The fault may lie in the officers, in the military system itself and in bureaucratic procedures and practices that make corruption possible.

The reform will have to begin from the very top. For instance, the President should not have the power to order the disbursement of huge amounts of money to key generals to ensure their loyalty to him or her. The AFP should build a strong system of accountability to make sure that every peso allocated to it is spent for the very purpose for which it was budgeted. And other safeguards should be introduced to ensure that everyone keeps to the straight and narrow path.

The PMA has had a long and colorful history. It has been considered such a good training ground for military officers that other countries in Asia have been sending some of their cadets to it. But some generals, members of the older generation of PMA graduates, have given it a bad name. The remedy is not to abolish the PMA but to strengthen it and to reform the AFP and the bureaucracy to ensure that generals do not enrich themselves at the expense of the suffering taxpayers.