When you will make history for having the shortest stint as AFP chief, you will probably count the days left in your service. President Arroyo has already said Defensor is retiring come Nov. 18, but the AFP chief is quick to point out: "Yes, she said Nov. 18, but she mentioned no year."
That’s true enough; in case the President has a change of heart, she can always use Defensor’s argument. And having seen how fate has smiled on Benjie Defensor, I won’t dismiss another extension of his tenure as plain wishful thinking on his part. After all, he assumed the AFP’s helm just two days before his retirement, with no one raising a howl of protest. Then he received a unanimous nod from the Commission on Appointments.
Defensor admits that his position "is already a bonus" and says he has not asked the President for an extension of his tenure. But he says that all his life he had sensed that things often went his way. "I think I’m a blessed person. Things fall into place. It seems everywhere I go things go my way."
He can even pursue a career in pop music. As we talked in a large gazebo-type air-conditioned reception area adjacent to his house, Defensor’s take on Cliff Richard’s "Constantly" blared from a CD player. Then there was former Petron chief Joey Syjuco belting out "Monday, Monday" by the Mamas and the Papas. The CD is titled "Sounds of ’69" and will finally be launched next month. It features members of the Philippine Military Academy’s Class ’69, including Transportation Secretary Larry Mendoza, Ambassador to Vietnam Guillermo Wong and former Army chief Jaime de los Santos. Proceeds from this venture will go to a fund for soldiers wounded in action.
Listening to the sounds of his generation probably made Defensor wax philosophical about life. Or maybe it’s normal for him to blurt out that the secret of success is to "love much, love often, live well." And another: "Happiness is getting what you aspired for. Satisfaction is liking what you have gotten. There’s a difference."
I’m more familiar with the Benjie Defensor who injects humor in all his conversations. When I ask him if he’s older than his wife Meg, he replies, "I always say that I’m as old as my wife. Then I lie about her age."
"creative combat" — constantly finding fresh approaches in battle.
But how much can he really achieve in such a brief stint? "I do not count the 69 days," he says. What he keeps track of are the battle numbers. He reports that since assuming his post, 381 of those classified as enemies of the state have surrendered, 77 have been killed and 25 captured, while 352 firearms have been recovered from enemy forces. The figures, he points out, are higher than those for the entire year before he assumed the helm of the AFP.
"I am blessed with many things. I’m not saying gano’n ako kagaling (I am that good), but everything falls into place when you are blessed," he says.
He’s not counting his achievements for 69 days, but rather his accomplishments in a lifetime of soldiering. He has built an Air Force City at Clark and was a proponent of the AFP modernization program as far back as
1994. Now he has launched a Navy program to build motorized boats for patrolling the country’s extensive coastline. Even if he is gifted with a full three-year term, he says there will always be unfinished business in the AFP.
"I think in life… if you ever have a good work, you can never finish it," he says. His constant task, he adds, is "bringing out the greatness and creativeness of soldiers" so they can become better officers.
Luzon. (The bombings in Metro Manila are the problem of the police.)
Thwarting the threats will require efficient local executives, he says, individuals who can convince their constituents that while poverty breeds insurgency, these days insurgency is breeding poverty. He cites the leadership of officials such as North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol as well as Mayors Ma. Clara Lobregat of Zamboanga City and Rodrigo Duterte of Davao in rallying their constituents to unite against threats to public safety.
The biggest threats to national security, Defensor says, are public indifference and complacency. "As long as people are concerned, there’s hope," he says. "Filipinos leaving the Philippines — that’s a security threat."
On a less philosophical note, he downplays the threats posed by the Abu
Sayyaf, Islamic separatists and even Jemaah Islamiyah. The communists, he says, pose a bigger threat because their aim is to overthrow the government and change the nation’s way of life.
Can Defensor make a significant dent against these threats in just 69 days? With him you can never tell. "I am a blessed person," he says over and over again. It sounds like a mantra and you are tempted to believe him.