Southcom chief crying wolf?

The post of chief of the Southern Command is so weighty it merits three-star rank, like head of the Army, Air Force, Navy or AFP vice chief. In charge of Mindanao, the holder is so crucial that, in times of chronic coup talks in Manila, his oath of fealty to the commander-in-chief can calm jitters. So when Southcom Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan warned on Christmas Eve that Moro separatists are recruiting and retraining, he should have put civilian and military bureaucrats on war footing. He didn’t.

To a man, Malacañang and defense officials hushed Adan’s alarm. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, presidential adviser on Mindanao Jesus Dureza, and chief government peace negotiator Silvestre Afable in separate interviews bristled the report needs verification. Defense deputy Ramon Santos harrumphed, "We cannot find evidence of the recruitment." He cautioned the general against issuing statements against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front without consulting the peace negotiators. The common sentiment was that Adan’s speaking out of turn could harm the government peace talks with the MILF that began in January 1997.

Mindanao officials and businessmen were as pissed. Mayors cited safe travel on highways where MILF rebels used to put sentries to seize off-duty soldiers and extort cash. Traders fretted that Adan’s "saber-rattling" might repaint Mindanao as a war zone just when they are preparing to host the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Davao City on January 13-19.

They were more inclined to take the MILF’s word for it. Sammy al-Mansur Gambar, boss of the fighting wing Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, assured that his men were busy only playing basketball with state troops during fiestas in mixed Christian and Muslim barrios. MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu surmised that Adan was only trying to catch Malacañang’s attention ahead of his retirement on January 11.

Has the Southcom top post lost its luster? It would seem so. And some senior military officers blame it on President Gloria Arroyo’s style of appointing.

Adan was concurrently the deputy chief of staff and AFP spokesman when he suddenly was named Southcom head last September 8. It came as a surprise to the recommending board of generals who had submitted other names – Maj. Gens. Samuel Bagasin and Gabriel Habacon, commanders of the Army’s 6th and 1st Divisions both based in Mindanao. As it turned out, the front-running Bagasin was chucked over to Adan’s old post as the AFP deputy chief.

It was the first time that a member of the joint staff became Southcom chief. But it wasn’t the first time that a general, already informed of a new posting, was frustrated at the last minute. AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga was an Army brigadier in 2002 when told he would soon be AFP deputy for intelligence with rank of major general. Somebody else took the post, and Senga had to settle for deputy for civil-military operations. More recently Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga was on his way to the turnover to him of the Navy command when told that the appointment had been recalled. He still got the top Navy job days later. But murmurs were that he nearly lost it from intense lobbying in Malacañang by his rivals’ political patrons. Such too was the case with Senga in 2002.

It’s all due to Ms Arroyo’s fondness of the revolving door; that is, of giving officers a taste of top posts even if only months from retirement. So far she has had since 2001 a train of six AFP chiefs of staff, all serving less than a year. Bagasin or Habacon, who will both retire in September 2006, may still get to sit as Southcom chief after Adan leaves in January. The policy is viewed to favor hard-working officers who deserve to leave in a blaze of glory. But it is also blamed for the incident of a long-sitting deputy for comptrollership like Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, recently court-martialed to two years’ hard labor for fund anomalies.

But back to Southcom and Adan. The command, a composite of all the major ser vices’ units in Mindanao, is the AFP’s biggest with 35,000 men, a third of its strength. The US, concerned with rising Islamist extremism in Mindanao, deems it a vital cog in the fight against global terrorism. The Pacific Command, by itself a virtual country with its own fleet, bomber and fighter squadrons, foot soldiers, and diplomatic and press officers, pours most of its military aid and training to the Southcom. Only in the eyes of some AFP generals perhaps has Southcom’s shine faded.

Adan, meanwhile, had based his case on affidavits by MILF recruits themselves and signed reports from local Muslim officials. He declined to show the documents to reporters for the time being. But they are not far-fetched. Thrice before the separatists had rearmed in the midst of peace talks. And many times the MILF central command had failed to control field units that maraud Christian villages.

The MILF’s Kabalu explained that the only recruitment and training they are doing is for a Bangsamoro Development Agency to manage the promised foreign aid to Mindanao in the event of peace settlement. Afable of the government panel echoed him: "Every young recruit for peace and development is one less recruit for separatism."

The US is dangling at least $30 million a year for Muslim enclaves if the MILF signs permanent truce. Saudi Arabia, Libya and Malaysia vow business investments. The MILF’s only other route is to go on warring, but then dash poor Muslims’ chances for advancement and risk a terrorist tag that would incite international wrath. It thus would do well to dispel Adan’s charges by no longer prolonging peace. Or else, the general could be the boy who cried wolf – unbelieved at first but proved correct too late.

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