EDITORIAL – Overstaying generals
A few days ago, President Arroyo extended the term of Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon. Nobody was surprised by the move. Extending the terms of loyal generals has always been a favorite ploy of presidents.
Such extensions, however, do not sit well with lower-ranked officers. Extensions delay their own movements up the ranks. And they prolong the anxiety of those with an eye toward replacing the retiring general once he eventually relinquishes his coveted post.
One often wonders what a retiring general hopes to accomplish in the extra few months that his tour of duty has been extended that he has not already accomplished, if at all, in all the years --- decades, as is often the case --- that he has been in service.
Everyone in the service knows when he is expected to retire. A true officer and gentleman, therefore, is expected to manage his time well so that when the time comes for him to finally turn in the sabre, he shall have accomplished his mission on time.
A military officer who accepts an extended term is virtually admitting he has failed to meet his deadlines, that he has been slack in his own self-discipline. Unable to cut a fine figure of a model officer and gentleman, the more he should promptly take a bow and retire.
But we have yet to see and hear of an officer who refuses an extension despite the fact that there is virtually nothing more to do in a month or two. This only gives rise to suspicions that there are other reasons for the extension than just being indispensable.
What these reasons are, only the extending power and the one extended would know. But they are never expected to go into that. And that, in turn, only serves to fuel all the more the suspicions that are aroused by such lack of transparency.
Of course, the extended general will try to make a few limp noises about what could happen in the next few months or so. General Esperon himself is no exception. But we all know the real score. Our pained hope is that,
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