Palace backtracks on new Navy chief

The scheduled turnover of command yesterday for the top post of the Philippine Navy has been put off supposedly due to last-minute lobbying by political patrons of other parties interested in the key military post.

Malacañang, however, denied knowledge of any lobbying, with Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye saying only that President Arroyo had not yet signed the appointment papers for the next Navy chief.

Bunye would not explain why.

"Well, the fact is, as of this morning, the President has not signed any appointment," he said. "I believe that this will be resolved very soon."

The Navy, for its part, also failed to say why the turnover rites between incoming Navy Flag Officer in Command (FOIC) Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga and outgoing Vice Adm. Ernesto de Leon were canceled.

"I received a call from the Flag Officer-in-Command (De Leon) this morning saying the turnover ceremonies have been indefinitely postponed," Navy spokesman Capt. Geromino Malabanan said.

Highly placed sources in the Navy, however, said all was set for the ceremonies until "militics" — or military politics — got in the way.

So-called militics is a longtime lobbying practice in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Navy insiders claimed invitations had been sent out already for the turnover rites. The ceremony programs were supposedly printed and set to be distributed to guests.

"Almost everybody in the military were already informed, especially the officers corps of the Navy for them to attend the ceremony," one of the Navy insiders said.

"Red carpets were laid, streamers already hung, and programs and invitations had been distributed, but once again militics stopped everything and rendered our preparations useless," another Navy source said.

He added that a ranking member of the House of Representatives was responsible for the glitch by launching a last-ditch effort to have his protégé appointed as Navy chief by the President instead of Mayuga.

The politician, who comes from Northern Luzon, is perceived to be among the closest allies of Mrs. Arroyo in Congress.

Aside from him, there are other politicians also lobbying for the selection of their own picks, military sources claimed.

At Malacañang, Bunye said he had no information on the alleged lobbying that supposedly led to the President to withdraw her appointment of Mayuga.

"The only information I have is that as of yesterday when I was asked by reporters, I replied that the President had not signed any appointment," Bunye stressed.

"I believe it’s a simple matter that you cannot take over unless you have your appointment paper," he replied when asked whether Mayuga was no longer considered to be a candidate for the post.

Bunye said he believes Mayuga is professional enough not to be demoralized if he fails to get appointed.

"I believe the admiral is a professional and I don’t think he would let this incident get in the way of performing his job," Bunye said.

Word of Mayuga’s assumption of the top Navy post had been circulating in various military camps since last week, but it was only confirmed after Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita announced it Sunday.

However, Bunye said he was not aware of the circumstances surrounding the announcement of Ermita.

For its part, the AFP also denied there was lobbying by outside forces, only that the President had yet to appoint the next Navy chief.

"The AFP can only act upon orders. Without an order we could not move and in Vice Admiral’s Mayuga’s case, his appointment is not official yet in an absence of an order from the Commander-in-Chief," said AFP spokesman Col. Tristan Kison.

"I strongly deny that there is lobbying in the position. There is no lobbying," Kison stressed.

He said the position of the top Navy post lies in the hands of the President and until such time that an official designation order has been announced and an order for this has been received by the AFP, De Leon, whose terminal leave took effect yesterday, will remain as the chief of the Navy.

Several text messages were sent to Mayuga to air his side but these went unanswered.

The postponement of the Navy turnover rites was reminiscent of the last-minute appointment of Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan as Southern Command (Southcom) chief in early September instead of former 4th Infantry Division Commander, Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin.

Both Mayuga and Bagasin belong to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1973.

Bagasin eventually switched posts with Adan and is now the military’s deputy chief of staff. The controversy reportedly triggered restiveness within the military’s ranks.

De Leon filed for indefinite leave effective Dec. 5, three months ahead of his forced retirement in March, saying he wanted to widen the President’s choices for his successor.

His move gave Mayuga and Chief Naval Staff Rear Adm. George Uy a crack at the top Navy posts.

Mayuga and Uy will both turn 55 in December, a year shy of the mandatory retirement age of 56.

According to military rules, senior officers should have at least one year in service left before being appointed as commander of any of the three major services — the Army, the Navy and the Air Force.

Also in the running for the Navy top post are Rear Admirals Tirso Danga, the Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence; Constantino Jardeniano, commander of the Naval Education and Training Command; and Alfredo Abueg, commander of the Philippine Fleet.

As Inspector General, Mayuga will handle the military’s investigation into alleged involvement of its officers and men in cheating during the 2004 elections. — With Paolo Romero