Military rule is not an option

In the face of today’s very unsettled political environment that is aggravated by the glaring lack of honest-to-goodness choices for next year’s election, many of our despairing countrymen are now talking about the possibility of military rule. There is this mistaken notion that a committee of generals can bring about order and prosperity where our civilian politicians have failed.

Nothing is more terribly naïve and far from reality. Take it from one of them. According to an e-mailed material I received, after the failed coup attempt in 1987, an idealistic West Point trained army officer asked one of his senior officers "who shall govern the country if we had taken over government."

Rene Jarque, the officer who purportedly wrote the e-mailed material, said he immediately answered his own question, "sir, given the dismal state of the AFP today, I doubt very much whether military officers can govern this country."

Mr. Jarque is correct. The military is very much a part of our rotten society and is itself in urgent need of reforms. The Feliciano Commission formed by Ate Glo to look into the grievances of the Oakwood mutineers has come out with its report. Based on the summaries I have seen, I must confess that I was underwhelmed. There was nothing I didn’t already know or suspected. And even then, it would end up like the Davide Commission, an interesting but largely academic exercise.

It had been weeks since the Feliciano report had been circulated but we have heard nothing from Ate Glo about what concrete steps she would take in response to its findings. Come to think of it, the Report did not even merit a day’s worth of prominent front page stories and no heated commentaries in the op/ed page. It was a boring PR exercise whose only purpose is apparently to take the heat away from Malacañang.

Jarque, a former military officer who resigned his commission in disgust, found "the report very shallow and except for RSBS, generally a rehash of the Davide Commission Report." For Jarque, the Feliciano Commission failed "to look at the root of the problem in the AFP which is the professional and moral bankruptcy of the AFP Officer Corps on whose shoulders lay the blame for the wretched and dishonorable state of the AFP today."

The cynicism of Jarque is understandable. He tried to reform the system from within and failed. "If my experience in advocating AFP reform is any indication, the chain of command, all the way up to the Commander in Chief, does not listen very well to soundings of reform. No amount of coup attempts and mutinies, fact-finding commissions, Congressional hearings and pages written about military reform have made a real difference. In fact, many of the abhorrent practices in the AFP have become so entrenched that it will be difficult to untangle them."

Those of us who have been around and have seen things happen in this country share Jarque’s prognosis that "complaints are, on the whole, ignored and eventually forgotten. No genuine actions are taken and later, everything goes back to normal again. From past experience, there is cause for pessimism that the government will not take serious action and the AFP will not undertake comprehensive reform."

It is unrealistic to expect overnight reforms. But it is not asking too much to expect Ate Glo to have taken time to acknowledge the Feliciano Report not with the usual meaningless statements but with an action plan ready for immediate execution. Did the Feliciano Commission waste time and taxpayers’ resources for nothing?

Going back to those who in their desperation think military rule can be this country’s salvation… they must realize that military rule is not going to make much of a difference… not with the condition of our military sector now. Imagine the worse of our government today except that no one can protest… that’s military rule under officers used to the rotten ways of the present system.

Besides, countries in the world today are moving towards more, not less democracy in their political systems. We cannot retrogress no matter how seemingly hopeless our civilian leaders today might be. Our only real recourse is to unite and use the present system to cleanse itself. I know that’s easier said than done, but we don’t have any other alternative.

Cameo Appearance

Ate Glo is getting the wrong advice from her image handlers. She made a five-minute cameo appearance at the Mandy Moore concert. She should have showed up at the funeral of Chinoy Coke executive Betti Chua Sy instead. Based on what my kids told me, the young crowd at the Mandy Moore concert didn’t particularly appreciate Ate Glo’s intrusion. Ate Glo was so out of place in that event featuring the young 5’10" singer.

Ate Glo would have delivered a strong message of her administration’s anti-kidnapping stance if she showed up at the funeral of Ms. Sy. This killing is not only a threat on the Chinoy community but on all of us. It is not only despicable but it shows the helplessness of government in the hands of the kidnap syndicates. Ate Glo‘s aides even gave her wrong information about the capture of Ms. Sy‘s killers. Poor Ate Glo eagerly announced the "kuryente" at the Ad Congress in Baguio.

If Ate Glo had the guts to join the protest funeral march, she would have shown not just to the Chinoy community but to all Filipinos that she too is bothered by this senseless loss of a very productive life. Ms. Sy was a summa cum laude graduate of the State University and as such, the Filipino taxpayers have a heavy investment on her too. She could have gone abroad after graduation but she stayed and lost her life for it.

If Ate Glo is afraid to face an angry group of citizens who just suffered a great loss, thanks to the inadequacy of state protection, what right does she have to seek the presidency next year? The whole Filipino nation, not just the Chinoy community is outraged by Ms. Sy‘s kidnap/muder. Ate Glo must realize that before she does something stupid like gracing another pop concert where she isn‘t exactly welcome. Swooning over the Taiwanese F4 stars is also so very unpresidential.

Up Prep Golden Anniversary

Makati Mayor Jojo Binay of Class 1958 of the UP Preparatory High School announced the holding of a Grand Anniversary Reunion at the NBC Tent, Fort Bonifacio on Jan.3, 2004. Mayor Binay is the Overall Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

Reunion Project Director Tom Banguis Jr. advises that alumni who want to reserve slots for the affair can call Ms. Marilyn Sager-Santiago at tel. 811-5617 or email their inquiries to [email protected] or [email protected].

Alumni from abroad are expected to come home this Christmas to attend the reunion.

Perfect Match

Now, here‘s Dr. Ernie E.

Nadine: I hear your friend Vicki, the one who is a doctor, is getting married.

Jill: Yes, and they are perfect for each other.

Nadine: Oh yeah?? Nice guy, huh?

Jill: No, not really. See, she’s a proctologist and he’s an asshole.

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