Waiting for reforms

Here is the last word on the unfortunate Fortunato Abat, frustrated savior of the Filipino people:

"When you retire from the military, don’t expect anyone to follow you. The only person who will follow you is the driver assigned to you."

That’s from Gen. Efren Abu, who will be finishing his term soon as President Arroyo’s sixth military chief of staff.

Last April 30, when Abat and several other retired generals launched the Coalition for National Salvation, key military officers played golf at Camp Aguinaldo, then left for Villamor Air Base before 1 p.m. to welcome back President Arroyo from the Asia-Africa Summit in Indonesia. That evening several ranking military officers partied, attending the wedding reception of Patrick de Villa, son of former defense chief Renato de Villa.

The government took more seriously the threat posed by loyalists of deposed President Joseph Estrada and his friend the late Fernando Poe Jr. Checkpoints were set up and government forces went on high alert until May 2 when Estrada attended his mom’s 100th birthday celebration.

Retired military officers warn that the lack of support for yet another uprising should not lull the government into complacency in reforming the military. The retired officers point out that Abat is a respected officer who is voicing legitimate grievances of ordinary soldiers.

* * *

Abu and his immediate boss, Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, insist that those grievances are being addressed.

Since the low-key Cruz, President Arroyo’s former chief legal adviser, assumed the helm of the Department of National Defense, military generals mysteriously started being indicted for large-scale corruption and other offenses.

It must be the legal background. Cruz, however, wants to emphasize that he has nothing to do with the indictments of retired Army Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia and the others. Cruz also stresses that Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo is working independently from the defense department. But didn’t Cruz and Marcelo work in the same law firm before joining the government? Just a coincidence, Cruz says with a straight face.

Instead Cruz wants to emphasize the numerous reforms that have been implemented in the Armed Forces of the Philippines during his watch. All the recommendations of the Feliciano Commission, a fact-finding body that was formed shortly after the mutiny staged by junior AFP officers in Makati, have been or are in the process of being implemented, Cruz told me the other day.

These include reforms in supply procurement systems and the abolition of certain AFP offices to reduce opportunities for graft.

Cruz is currently working on a system that will guarantee promotions based on merit rather than patronage or palakasan. He concedes this could take time, but Cruz has the patience of a lawyer used to long waiting for results in a deeply flawed system. His timetable for turning the AFP into a professional fighting force is at least 10 years.

* * *

The Americans, who are worried about the Philippines turning into the regional haven for terrorism, are investing heavily in boosting the capability of the AFP. And they agree that reforms are being implemented.

"I actually see progress," says US Army Col. Matthias Velasco, the US defense representative here and the first Filipino-American to head the Joint United States Military Assistance Group (JUSMAG). "I do believe the AFP is reforming… but most of it is unseen."

Outgoing US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone has the same assessment. Most of the reforms in the AFP, he says, do not make for good headlines or sound bytes and therefore go unnoticed.

In fact when Cruz talks in detail about progress in the so-called Philippine defense reform program, the subject can become so boring he can put you to sleep.

Velasco, who has been here for three years, cites an example of a little-known improvement: the training of soldiers in providing medical attention to comrades wounded in the battlefield. These are soldiers who are not part of the AFP’s medical corps, but whose quick and correct response to injuries in the frontlines can save a fellow soldier’s life. They carry with them small packs containing medicines and equipment needed for first aid. Since 2002, some 700 AFP members have been trained by American "combat lifesavers," Velasco says.

Abu and the major service commanders say that Abat and his supporters should take a look at the ongoing reforms before agitating for a civilian-military junta.

"They talk mostly of old things that we are trying to solve," says Army chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga.

Velasco brushes aside the threat posed by Abat. "If we thought it was serious," he says, referring to the events last April 30, "we would be manning the (US) embassy." They did not.

Ricciardone says playing up and getting all excited about these periodic calls to topple the government can be amusing for a while, "but at a certain point it becomes sad."

* * *

Abu does not deny the problems that result from running a military on a shoestring budget. The AFP suffers from an acute lack of everything, from modern aircraft to boots, uniforms and guns. Low troop morale is aggravated by corruption in the officer corps.

The problems are particularly worrisome for a military that is fighting battles on several fronts: against communist rebels, separatist Muslims, Islamist terrorists and intruders in Philippine territorial waters. At the same time, the AFP must carry out other functions expected of a military during peacetime, including disaster relief operations.

Even such benign activities, however, cannot be carried out effectively because of problems already mentioned. We were reminded of this once again when an Air Force Huey helicopter crashed recently, killing its military pilots as well as retired government volcanologist Raymundo Punongbayan and several other scientists.

How many more soldiers will die or be maimed because of poor military equipment and supplies? The government will attribute the problem to sheer lack of funds. Abat and those who believe he makes sense will attribute it to neglect and mismanagement, and the frustration can keep growing.

There may be general agreement that reforms are on the way for one of Asia’s most poorly equipped and under-funded armed forces. The question is whether the reforms will come soon enough for the troops in the frontlines.