A new and healthy respect for the military

Last week, the board of judges for this year’s outstanding soldiers contest met to confirm the final tabulation of our individual ratings. In at least two categories, the contest was extremely close, a dead heat. In the end, we allowed the numbers to stand as tabulated. But the discussion was long and exhaustive on why the top contenders should win, no matter how slight their edge over the runners-up.

In the course of the discussions, we reviewed again the records of the candidates. It was clear from their records that our young officers, from captain to light colonel, are very well educated. They have Masters degrees in business, economics and other such civilian disciplines that qualify them for top positions in the civilian world. In fact, if I were a corporate headhunter, I would offer them top jobs at top salaries right on the spot. It is a mistake to think of them as unquestioning morons who are programmed to just follow orders blindly.

Their academic credentials aside, the one thing that differentiates them from our civilian politicians is a strong sense of purpose and patriotism. And unlike our politicians, you can feel that their patriotism is genuine because they are, by choosing to remain in the military, putting their lives on the line to prove it.

Given the salaries and benefits typical officers get, they should be easy picking for civilian headhunters. But when asked about their choice to stay with the AFP, they say that they owe it to the country to do their part in reforming the AFP and contributing what they can to the country in the process.

I haven’t been exposed to such public expressions of idealism and readiness for self sacrifice for the country’s sake since the days I used to attend teach-ins of leftist organizations at the University of the Philippines over 30 years ago. And to think that I didn’t think much of the military, largely because of the martial law experience and lately, because of what happened to Admiral Wong when he blew the whistle on corruption in the military.

One of the judges surmised that the probable reason why the young officers we interviewed for the awards are still so idealistic and so articulate about their idealism is that they have not yet been tempted. Wait until they become colonels and generals and you will see a very different type of animal, he warned. Admiral Wong was a deviant in his uncompromising honesty and idealism, as military senior officers go.

A week later, I was at a coffee shop where hearing all manner of concoctions about all sorts of scenarios and coup plots goes with the coffee. A comment was made that the only reason the military is now averse to a coup is that they have no credible civilian leader to hand over power to. Every politician is as bad as any other.

That’s when it occurred to me that our civilian leaders had better realize that time is running out pretty quickly. If these young officers finally lose hope, they may use that constitutional provision requiring them to protect the people and not feel an obligation to turn over power to any civilian authority. After all, they have the training and the skills needed to run the country by themselves. Additionally, the idealistic young officers also have moral superiority over typical civilian politicians.

Of course if you ask them now, they all say that they will respect civilian authority. But then again, civilian authority must act in a way that they can be respected. That brawl in the Senate, for instance, makes it difficult for anyone, civilian or military, to respect our senators. You almost wish someone would hold them hostage and the Pasay police would come to their rescue. In moments of despair, I often think we must be saved from those clowns in our legislature.

And as I was quietly thinking about all these, I remembered the prediction of my favorite astrologer who many months ago warned me that she sees a long period of military rule in our future. She wouldn’t tell me how soon this would happen or for how long. All I remember is that I was afraid, very afraid when she first told me about her astrological readings.

Then came my direct exposure with these young outstanding officers in the annual contest. I still hope my friend’s astrological prediction about military rule will not come to pass. The unfortunate thing about it is, our current crop of political leaders may make that awful situation possible.

Should that happen, I worry that those young officers light colonels and below, may be all idealistic and patriotic now, but experience tells us that power corrupts absolutely and military rule means absolute power that will absolutely corrupt. Once in possession of political power, those fine young officers may turn out no better than the civilian politicians they will displace. Both, after all, come from the same rotten society of ours today.

In the end, democracy is still the best form of government if we know how to manage it. Otherwise, we just have to live with the consequences of our folly. To our civilian leaders therefore, wake up for time is running short.

Guam

Over the weekend, Philippine Airlines started to fly to Guam again, three times a week. It is a measure of the airline’s continuing progress in its financial rehabilitation program. It also underlines the importance of this island territory of the United States whose historical roots as a colony of Spain we share. In fact, a large number of Guam’s population trace their ancestry here.

PAL used to fly to Guam before the airline was buffeted by financial woes. When it stopped flying to Guam, the Manila-Guam route became a monopoly of Continental Air Micronesia, an American carrier. This explains why it costs almost as much to fly for four hours to Guam as to fly for 11 to 16 hours to California.

When I received the invitation to join the inaugural flight last Friday, I told my wife to check how much a ticket costs so she could join me. I was surprised to find out that the price was in the range of $700. Luckily I saw an ad for a weekend package at $380 and we inquired. If we just want the airline ticket without the hotel, the price is $390 or $10 more expensive. I do not understand airline arithmetic but I bought my wife a ticket anyway at that price.

PAL chairman Lucio Tan told us that the reason the fare to Guam is so expensive is because of Continental’s monopoly. In fact, the price now is as high as $1,200 roundtrip. When PAL was flying there some years ago, the competition brought ticket prices down to as low as $250. This is why, Mr. Tan explained, the Governor of Guam paid him a visit to ask him to consider flying to Guam once more.

This time, PAL hopes they won’t be driven off the Guam market again. Tourism Secretary Dick Gordon is hopeful we could attract some of the tourism traffic from the Pacific islands. One thing is sure this time: the Pinoys in Guam had better make the new PAL flights profitable or they will be back to the tender mercies of a Continental monopoly.

Just for show

Here’s Dr. E.

A colleague was at a stop light, behind a car with a bumper sticker that said "Honk if you love Jesus."

So he honked. The driver leaned out his window, flipped him the bird, and yelled "Can’t you see the light is still red, you f**king moron?"

(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])