Amend RA 11709

As early as in November last year, retired Marine Maj. Gen. Edgard Arevalo warned about a very weird situation at the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that – if not corrected soonest – could spin out of control. Arevalo wrote about “The fates of two AFP chiefs of staff” in his Sunday column that was published at The Manila Times on Nov. 27 last year. He was, of course, referring to the situation of AFP chiefs of staff (CSAFP) Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro and his immediate predecessor, ex-CSAFP Gen. Andres Centino.

This situation arose after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (PBBM) appointed Bacarro as the new CSAFP on Aug. 2 last year. Centino, who was set to retire in Feb. 2023 yet, got booted out. Ahead of the compulsory retirement age of 56 years old, Arevalo explained, Centino’s successor could not get promoted to four-star rank General because this is only for the rank of the CSAFP.

Arevalo succinctly described the feared scenario might lead to a brewing dissension within the AFP ranks. Arevalo, a member of the PMA Class 1990, retired on July 18, 2022 as AFP official spokesperson and commander of the AFP Education, Training, and Doctrine Command.

Arevalo wrote about rumors going around the military camps on a fresh round of “rigodon” in the AFP leadership. Bacarro, who is due to retire on Sept. 18 this year, was replaced last week. A day after he arrived from his state visit to China, PBBM swore in Centino as a comebacking CSAFP to replace Bacarro.

As the Commander-in-chief, PBBM merely corrected the un-intended situation that arose in the AFP.

Centino’s re-appointment will make him qualified this time to enjoy the benefits of extension in post as CSAFP under Republic Act (RA) 11709. Signed into law on April 13, 2022 by former President Rodrigo Duterte, it mandated a fixed three-year tour of duty for the AFP chief of staff; vice chief of staff; the deputy chief of staff; the major service commanders; (Army, Air Force, Navy); the unified command commanders; and, Inspector General “unless sooner terminated by the President.”

Actually, it was Bacarro who was the first CSAFP to be given a fixed three-year term by RA 11709. However, the same law stated: “…unless sooner terminated by the President,” it enables the Commander-in-chief of the AFP to exercise his discretion. So all of them in the military – not just in the Cabinet and other presidential appointees – serve at the pleasure, trust and confidence of the President as the appointing authority.

Bacarro, who hails from San Fernando, La Union, is a Medal of Valor awardee. He was awarded on Dec. 21, 1991 this highest combat honor in the battlefields for his “conspicuous acts of courage, gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty” during a 10-hour encounter with 150 fully-armed New People’s Army rebels attack in Maconacon, Isabela on Feb. 26, 1991.

On the other hand, Centino who hails from Tacloban City, is a Philippine Legion of Honor awardee. He received the highest rank – the Chief Commander – that the President of the Philippines may grant to an individual without the concurrence of Congress. Ironically, PBBM bestowed this award to Centino on the same day he appointed Bacarro to replace the latter as CSAFP. This award hence entitled Centino to hold on to his post at the AFP Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City even if he was pre-retired and replaced as CSAFP.

At his first stint as CSAFP, Centino served from Nov. 12, 2021 during the Duterte presidency until Bacarro replaced him. Bacarro along with several other presidential appointees signed up during the watch of erstwhile Executive Secretary Vic Rodriguez are noticeably eased out one after the other.

With Centino back in the saddle, Bacarro bowed out as the 58th AFP chief of staff after only four months. This was much longer than the three months served by former Senator Rodolfo Biazon as then CSAFP in 1991.

In theory, there should be no problem in the transition back of chain of command from Bacarro to Centino as CSAFP like in the past. The two gentlemen and officers of the AFP, after all, come from the same batch of graduates from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1988. Thus, there should be no casus belli supposedly going on among the ranks of the military that spread widely over the weekend.

The rumors mysteriously fanned out from AFP’s next-door neighbor at EDSA in Camp Crame Headquarters of the Philippine National Police (PNP) whose 900 or more Colonels and Generals were asked to submit voluntary resignations.

But Bacarro did not sound bitter in his emotional farewell remarks during the turnover rites presided by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin held at the AFP last Saturday.

As prophetically raised earlier by Arevalo, Centino’s return as CSAFP will trigger a reshuffle in key posts in the military establishment.

In a series of columns he wrote since RA 11709 took effect, he discussed “how the deadly combination of political patronage and the many infirmities” of RA 11709 has – to his knowledge – been causing instability in the current military establishment. “Students of Philippine military history will see that the manifestations today are reminiscent of the early symptoms of how the discontent” percolated in the AFP ranks in the early 1980s. He recalled how it snowballed into several military “misadventures” by some disgruntled military officers and men who claimed to be championing the need for reforms in the AFP.

“The circumstances may not be identical, but the increasing demoralization caused by politics and the undue advantages accorded to some general and flag officers by the faulty provisions of RA 11709, if unchecked, may just one day get out of control,” Arevalo wrote in his latest column piece published on Jan. 1 this year.

To its credit, RA 11709 put an end to the so-called “revolving door” policy in the past when each and every retirable General got to be CSAFP, even if undeserved. Several bills to amend it were filed at the 19th Congress to enhance further the professionalism of our Filipino soldiers.