EDITORIAL - Gone missing

The officer who has hurled accusations of fund misuse has gone missing and has been ordered arrested by the military amid purported threats to her life. If the threats are real and Navy Lt. Senior Grade Nancy Gadian is telling the truth about the fund misuse, her best protection at this point is to surface and substantiate her allegations. It will also give her a chance to clear her name amid charges of insubordination and “lavish spending” filed against her by the military.

Before she filed resignation papers and was declared AWOL by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Gadian had claimed that about P46 million allotted by the government for the Balikatan military exercises between the Philippines and the United States in 2007 was misused. Gadian implicated Gen. Eugenio Cedo, who headed the Western Mindanao Command at the time, in the alleged fund anomaly. Gadian took a 30-day leave but did not return to work after its lapse on April 22. The AFP said it could not approve her resignation from the service while there was a pending case against her.

An internal audit conducted by the AFP has so far cleared Gadian of any accountability except for an unliquidated P2,500 in expenses that she incurred at a hotel in Zamboanga City. If the AFP does not want to be accused of harassing an officer who is perceived to be a whistle-blower, it should resolve the case against Gadian as quickly as it resolves her allegations of fund misuse.

Though numerous reforms have been implemented in the AFP, problems remain, and it continues to suffer from an image problem. Because of scandals in the recent past, people tend to believe accusations of corruption in the AFP. Military corruption was one of the biggest complaints of junior officers who staged the Oakwood mutiny. Their complaint was bolstered by the subsequent court-martial and conviction of a former AFP comptroller, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, for violations of the Articles of War.

Garcia still faces a corruption case before the Sandiganbayan. His case showed what speedy and decisive action could do for the credibility of the AFP when its top officers are accused of wrongdoing. The same response should be seen in the case of Cedo and the Balikatan funds. It shouldn’t be too hard for independent auditors to trace how the money was spent.