President Aquino has just sworn in his second Armed Forces chief in eight months and extended the term of special envoy to the Middle East Roy Cimatu, who is accused of receiving millions in pasalubong or welcome money when he assumed the top military post. The new military chief, Eduardo Oban, will serve for nine months – a bit longer than his predecessor Ricardo David, who has just been appointed chief of the Bureau of Immigration. The President and commander-in-chief assured the public that there would be no revolving-door policy in the Armed Forces of the Philippines under his watch.
These are not encouraging signs for sweeping reforms in an organization that is in dire need of a dramatic overhaul. Still, people are giving the President the benefit of the doubt in his avowed commitment to stamp out corruption. If he needs officers who enjoy his full trust to do the job in the AFP, even if they are in fact revolving-door appointees, he still has some time to show his sincerity and produce results.
By most accounts, the records of both Oban and David have not been tainted with corruption, and both officers are respected by their peers. Oban assumes his post amid stories of large-scale corruption at the highest levels of the military and the consequent suicide of a retired AFP chief. Several military officers have told the Senate that reforms have been implemented in recent years to stop the fund “conversions” that made possible the pasalubong, pabaon or sendoff, and monthly payola to AFP chiefs. But public skepticism remains. Dispelling that skepticism is now in the hands of Oban.
Aside from fighting corruption, Oban must help strengthen the foundations for a merit-based system of assignment and promotion in the AFP. He can’t do this without the cooperation of politicians, but there are certain things an AFP chief can do within his power to depoliticize one of the biggest sources of demoralization and unrest within the ranks.
Oban will be leading one of Asia’s weakest armed forces – one that is battling internal threats on several fronts and helping prevent foreign intrusions into an extensive and poorly policed coastline. These tasks will be made easier if Oban can win the battle against corruption in his organization and see to it that limited AFP funds are used judiciously.