Abat hits gov’t for scrapping event for his son’s death

Retired Maj. Gen. Fortunato Abat, a former ambassador and Army chief, scored the government yesterday for canceling an event marking the silver death anniversary of his soldier-son at an Army camp named after him in Pangasinan.

In a press conference, Abat decried what he claimed was the shabby treatment he got from his former military underlings who he said offered flimsy excuses to stop him and his wife from entering Camp Tito Abat in Manaoag, Pangasinan.

The camp, home of the Army’s 54th Engineering Brigade, was named in honor of Abat’s son, 2Lt. Tito Abat, who was killed in a New People’s Army ambush in Sta. Rita, Eastern Samar on Feb. 2, 1979.

The young Abat was a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1978, of which President Arroyo is an honorary member.

"What kind of government do we have that deprives a father the right to celebrate and commemorate his fallen son’s death anniversary? Even the NPA commemorates the death anniversaries of their fallen comrades," the elder Abat said.

Inquiring into the reason why the yearly commemoration was scrapped, Abat said several Army officials, including Army chief Lt. Gen. Efren Abu, told him that he might "influence" the soldiers at the camp.

"They should have been gentlemen enough to tell me and instruct me on what to say and what not to say during the occasion, and not just inform me when I was already in San Carlos City that the celebration was canceled because the camp was on double red alert due to threats from the NPA," he said.

Abat, who has been vocal about his no-election stand, said he intended to set aside politics in his speech and simply talk about the sacrifice of his son for the country.

He said his friends in active service told him that the real reason for the cancellation of the event was an order "from above."

The Armed Forces did not issue any statement in reaction to Abat’s pronouncements.