MANILA, 30 October 2004 — President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said yesterday that corruption is strangling the Philippines, and called on its citizens to “join hands to root out this evil.”
She said ill-gotten wealth would be seized from corrupt officials, both in the government and the military.
She made her comments at the turnover of command by retiring military chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya to Lt. Gen. Efren Abu, erstwhile army chief.
Abu took control of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which has been shaken by findings by investigators that its former financial controller, Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, had stolen being stealing millions of dollars while in office.
Garcia is the most senior active-duty officer accused of graft. He has been suspended since September and is under house arrest until an army tribunal is convened next month to hear the charges.
Apart from being charged with graft and a possible case of plunder before a civilian court, he also faces a military court martial.
The military has said Garcia will be charged with unbecoming conduct for false declarations of his assets and possession of a “Green Card” as a permanent resident of the United States.
Garcia and members of his family allegedly brought nearly a million dollars into the United States over 10 years while he was earning about $7,200 a year.
Culture of Corruption
Arroyo said in a statement that the cause of the nation’s poverty was graft.
“The root cause of our situation today is an entrenched culture of corruption,” Arroyo said. “We must collect stolen riches and put people on trial for their criminal behavior, whoever they are, wherever they work and live.
“We are all part of the cycle of corruption and despair and we must join hands to root out this evil that is strangling our nation.”
A member of the presidential Anti-Graft Commission, Nicasio Conti, said about 200 government officials appointed by Arroyo are undergoing a “lifestyle check” following allegations they have hidden wealth.
The probe will check a range of items, including their real estate holdings, vehicles and credit card expenditures.
“It’s very hard investigating someone committing a corrupt act because it usually involves two persons only and is usually done in secret,” Conti said. “The only way to track them down is to see how they are going to use the fruit of the crime.”
He said Arroyo has increased funding for the government’s anti-corruption drive, allowing 56 new prosecutors to be hired, in addition to the 37 already employed. Together they will handle about 2,000 cases in an anti-graft court.
Conti said the United Nations Development Program was helping the government’s anti-corruption drive by helping train Philippine prosecutors and investigators.
Marching Orders
After being sworn to the top military post, Abu, a US-educated army officer, vowed wide-ranging reforms in a bid to restore confidence in the AFP’s leadership.
“Graft and corruption have no place in our ranks,” he said. “The cases against erring military personnel, be it a ranking general or a least ranking soldier, shall be dealt with the full force of the law.”
As a first step, Abu abolished the position of deputy chief of staff following held by Garcia. He announced that internal auditing, planning, budgeting, accounting and programming of military funds will now be done by separate units instead of just one.
President Arroyo said Abu would oversee the forthcoming court martial of Garcia and the investigation of other officers for possible graft. She did not identify any other suspects.
“Now, the weight of promulgating military justice bears heavily on the shoulders of the new chief of staff,” Arroyo said. “In this heavy task, you have my full support.”
“Like all Filipinos, I demand to know the truth about corruption, whether in the military or outside the military,” she added.
But Arroyo stressed that noting, “The majority of our soldiers and officers are men and women of courage, integrity and devotion.”
Some legislators have used Garcia’s example to lambast the entire military command, alleging they must also be involved in corruption.
The corruption issue has prompted speculation of a military destabilization attempt against Arroyo similar to the short-lived military mutiny in July 2003 by junior officers who accused their superiors of corruption.
Abu also warned that the military’s preoccupation with the corruption scandal could be exploited by “enemies of the state.”
“The enemies of the state watch — they watch our every move and threaten to strike at the slightest opportunity,” he said, adding that those intent on “destabilizing and destroying our institutions” would not succeed. The Philippine military is fighting an 8,600-strong Maoist communist insurgency. It has also been dealing with threats from local allies of the militant Al-Qaeda and the Jemaah Islamiyah networks.
Parting Shot
In his farewell speech, General Abaya took a parting shot at “ this shabby treatment even from fellow workers in government.”
He blamed the media for fueling the crisis instead of helping the AFP resolve the raging corruption scandal.
“Coup attempts, like corruption scandals, have a way of catching fire, destroying reputations and destabilizing institutions, especially with the sensationalism that has come to characterize the media,” he said.
He blasted away at “politicians” dangling “congressional confirmations” at the military — an apparent reference to Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago, who had vowed to block the promotion of Maj. Gen. Edilberto Adan for saying that her statements on the alleged corruption in the AFP were “poison” to the minds of the soldiers and the public.
He also lashed out at civilian leaders and supporters of coup attempts who had remained scot-free, and stressed that reforms were being implemented in the AFP.
Addressing the president, Abaya said he had assumed the post as AFP chief with her “profuse praise.”
“But I know that I will be leaving this office scorned either by those who were adversely affected by our reforms, or those whose high expectations they felt I failed to measure up to,” he said.
To show he was satisfied with Abaya’s performance, Arroyo appointed him right away as president of the Bases Conversion Development Authority (BCDA), the agency created to oversee the conversion of former American military bases in the country into productive economic zones.
“His outstanding academic record, his telling military achievements and his personal reputation for integrity were what made the private sector recommend to me that he should be the president of an important government corporation,” Arroyo said in a speech during the turnover ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo. (Additional input from wire agencies and INS)
