Feuding in the AFP - SKETCHES by Ana Marie Pamintuan

According to the buzz at camps Crame and Aguinaldo, the tragedy that befell police Chief Inspector Abelardo Martin was the result of a botched rescue attempt.

Now that’s no longer news. What’s new is that the rescue try was reportedly hatched not by military officers but by a ranking police official who had planned to present Martin to President GMA so he could gain brownie points. The official is said to have committed P3 million from his unit’s funds to one of his Philippine Military Academy classmates in the Army’s elite Scout Rangers. From the northeastern part of Bulacan, the Rangers reportedly staked out Martin, who was being held by the New People’s Army in Umiray, the northernmost town of Quezon near the boundary with Bulacan.

The special operation was said to have been so secret even the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Southern Luzon Command based in Lucena City did not know about it. When the Rangers finally struck, the raiders consisted of not just 10 but 60 soldiers. Gregorio "Ka Roger" Rosal of the NPA’s Melito Glor Command has said the NPA team consisted of only five guerrillas.

Unfortunately, Martin did not survive, and the rescue was passed off by the military as a chance encounter. Ka Roger claims the rescue plan was hatched in January, shortly after the NPA announced it would soon free Martin and another captive, Army Maj. Noel Buan.

Because the rescue was bungled, the P3-million funding was reportedly withdrawn. So who fired the fatal shots? Even the rumor mongers at the police and military camps are silent on this.

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Yesterday everyone was denying any rift between PMA Classes ’69 and ’70 or complaints against "SIR" (for Class Seventy, the Ilocano bloc headed by incoming Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, and outgoing chief Gen. Angelo Reyes). One member of Class ’69 flippantly dismissed the meetings of their batch with President GMA at Malacañang on two successive nights this week as a mere declaration of loyalty to the commander-in-chief, plus a comparison of golf handicaps.

Why would a newly installed President, so busy she has lost 15 pounds because of her hectic schedule, spend so much time with one batch of the PMA? The word is that when Reyes visited Mindanao recently, a member of Class ’69 tried to ask him what his beef was with the class, whose members currently occupy top positions in the AFP.

Philippine National Police chief Leandro Mendoza of Class ’69, a protégé and fellow Batangueño of Executive Secretary Renato de Villa, also denied any rift with Ramos boy Hermogenes Ebdane (Class ’70) of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force. The PAOCTF, Ebdane likes to point out, is not under the PNP. But Ebdane is also the PNP’s deputy chief for administration, and the buzz is he’s already preparing for the day he will take over from Mendoza.

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In addition to Class ’69, President GMA also has to deal with officers complaining about the appointment of former communist rebel Victor Corpus as head of one of the most sensitive commands in the military, the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Then there’s a faction of young officers clamoring for the speedy prosecution of Joseph Estrada. These officers are reportedly concerned about a seeming resurgence in Erap’s popularity and want him neutralized. On the other hand, Erap is claiming he himself is in touch with another group of young officers who are getting impatient with President GMA.

Since EDSA Dos the AFP has been awash with intrigues. Unless the President gets a firm grip on the AFP and PNP, these restive officers could be a constant source of destabilization. Yesterday she said all AFP appointments are her prerogative, which is true, although from what I’ve seen so far, she has largely followed the recommendations of Reyes. Since she intends to push through with her plan to promote Reyes to the defense department, don’t expect the restiveness to end soon.

Malacañang and AFP officials tried to downplay the restiveness as part of normal jockeying for positions whenever there’s a reshuffle. One official also airily dismissed the grumblings as a case of "KSP" or kulang sa pansin. Maybe he’s right, but it will be a mistake to ignore unhappy officers who need the commander-in-chief’s attention.

For now President GMA is giving them the attention they want. But she must deal quickly and decisively with her feuding officers. Otherwise she will be constantly distracted from other pressing matters of governance.