Arroyo Is Too Dependent on Military, Former Armed Forces Chief Concurs

MANILA/ZAMBOANGA CITY, 16 March 2006 — A retired Philippine general and former defense chief yesterday warned that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was relying too much on the military and police to cling to power and that was not good for the country’s health.

In an interview on nationwide TV, Renato de Villa said excessive dependence was dangerous because the men in uniform might take advantage of it.

“It seems like she is leaning a lot on the military and police and this is felt by many of the generals,” said de Villa, who served as Arroyo's first presidential executive secretary when she assumed power in 2001.

De Villa said these same men in uniform “must remember that this is a civilian government and the military must be totally subordinate to it.”

De Villa is said to be widely respected by many of the military’s current leaders because of his reputation as an honest and straightforward person both as an officer and a Cabinet official. He ended his military service as Armed Forces of the Philipines (AFP) chief of staff, after which he was appointed secretary of national defense in 1992 when his mentor, Fidel Ramos, became president.

De Villa’s warning jibed with a remark by Sen. Joker Arroyo on Tuesday that the president had become a “hostage” of the military.

The senator said that the president has become beholden to loyal generals who helped defeat the alleged plot to topple her government and that the military was now “calling the shots.” He said the president always needs to consult military officials before making decisions.

Tradition

AFP spokesman Col. Tristan Kison yesterday denied the senator’s charge, adding that it was still the general belief among the men in uniform that the military was subordinate to civilian rule.

Kison noted that added that looking back to the military-backed “people power” uprisings of 1986 and 2001, soldiers turned over control of the government to civilians.

“The AFP has a long tradition of strict adherence to the doctrine of the civilian supremacy over the military... so the insinuations about the president being hostage of the military are not true,” he said.

Earlier, Kison said the AFP is the “strong pillar” that holds the nation together and if the soldiery took sides, the country would “collapse.”

Kison also belittled the capability of disgruntled soldiers in the military, whom the maverick senator described as a “new opposition.”

“They are mavericks but these mavericks are a very minor group,” said Kison.

“As we’ve always said, there is no perfect organization, in any organization there would be people who would oppose some policies... but it doesn’t mean that the whole organization thinks that way,” he said.

The military has detained for investigation over two dozen officers and enlisted personnel who allegedly planned to join street protests last Feb. 24 to pressure the top brass into withdrawing support from the president.

The alleged leaders of the plot have been relieved as commanders of elite units: army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, Marine Col. Ariel Querubin, and Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco Jr., who headed the police Special Action Force.

Army Chief Woes Troops

Meanwhile, thousands of soldiers have reaffirmed their loyalty to the chain of command during a ceremony graced by army commander Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, a spokesman said yesterday.

Esperon inspected troops and led security officials to a ground-breaking ceremony of a housing project for soldiers in the strife-torn island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.

Esperon, along with Maj. Gen. Cardozo Luna, commander of the army’s 4th Infantry Division, inspected a cache of assorted weapons seized from communist insurgents the past three months in the south. They later inspected the housing project in Malaybalay City in Bukidnon province, said Col. Francisco Simbajon, a regional army spokesman.

The housing project, called the Pangkabuhayan Gawad sa Mapagkalingang Army (PGMA), will benefit thousands of soldiers.

PGMA, which also means President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, is supposed to benefit soldiers in Mindanao when they retire from the service. It is part of the wide Gawad Kalinga project, a movement launched in 2003 that envisions building 700,000 homes in 7000 communities in 7 years.

Simbajon said the 50-hectare housing project will be distributed to soldiers at 150 square meters for each family. He said Bukidnon Gov. Jose Zubiri and other town mayors pledged more than 3 million pesos to help fund the project being undertaken by the army’s Engineering Brigade.

Troops took advantage of General Esperon’s visit to pledge their support and loyalty to the chain of command and the constitution, said Sgt. Juanito Esguera.

He said Esperon reminded the soldiers to stay away from politics and remain apolitical.