GMA can extend term of AFP chief - Palace
By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star) Updated January 21, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday said the President can extend the term
of generals of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and even the chief of staff.
Ermita said nothing would prevent President Arroyo from extending the term of outgoing AFP chief Gen.
Victor Ibrado but she has not given any thought on the issue.
“In general and in principle, the President can extend the term of general officers and for that matter even the
chief of staff. There’s nothing wrong when a president extends the term of a general officer or for that matter,
the chief of staff,” he said.
Ermita, in a telephone interview, stressed that the issue on whether Ibrado’s term should be extended or not
remains speculative.
“For one thing, I have no idea of the plans of the President. She has not discussed this matter with us,”
Ermita said.
He stressed that extension of the tour of duty of military chiefs has several precedents during the Aquino and
Ramos administrations.
Mrs. Arroyo had previously extended the term of then Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. in
2005.
After his retirement, Esperon was appointed presidential peace adviser and is now chief of the Presidential
Management Staff.
The late President Corazon Aquino also extended the tour of duty of then AFP chief Fidel Ramos.
Ermita, however, refused to answer questions on the conditions that would prompt Mrs. Arroyo to extend the
term of Ibrado, saying the matter was purely speculative.
“I do not want to say something about whether there are conditions that the President is thinking of. All I
know is that a president has the prerogative to extend,” he said.
He added that in the event that the President would do so, there would be no complaints from the ranks as
they know she has that prerogative as Commander-in-Chief.
Ermita said Mrs. Arroyo would consider all factors in making a decision regarding Ibrado’s tour of duty.
Magdalo wants Ibrado
The call for Ibrado’s term extension has been snowballing.
The Magdalo, a former right-wing rebel turned political group, has joined mounting calls for his extension.
Former Air Force 1Lt. Ashley Acedillo, spokesman for the group, said it would be a good move on the part of
President Arroyo to just extend Ibrado, who is due for retirement on March 10.
Without mentioning any name, but clearly referring to Army chief Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit, Acedillo said that it
would be a very unpopular decision in the event Ibrado is replaced.
According to Acedillo, Ibrado’s deferment of his retirement date would even boost the voters’ confidence
because he has proven to be professional and non-partisan compared to Bangit, who is largely perceived to
be fiercely loyal to Mrs. Arroyo.
“It (not extending Ibrado’s term) will trigger a lot of suspicions on the part of everyone. This, aside from the
fact that once an opposition president is elected President, Bangit’s term would also be cut short,” Acedillo
said.
He said the next president could pick the next AFP chief after the elections if he doesn’t want to further extend
the term of Ibrado.
A recipe for social unrest
Senior military officials earlier backed the idea of extending Ibrado’s term in order to give the new president a
free hand in picking the next chief of the 125,000-strong military.
The officials denied they are backing Ibrado to prevent Bangit from assuming the top AFP post.
One official even warned that once Bangit replaces Ibrado, his military career would be in jeopardy because
the next president can always replace him.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon also backed the proposal, saying it will be wise for the President to extend Ibrado’s
term.
“Any appointment within the campaign period can only raise suspicions,” he said.
Even Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay has joined the call to extend the current AFP chief’s tour of duty.
Binay, president of the United Opposition (UNO) and running mate of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP)
standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada, said the Constitution does not allow Arroyo to make new
appointments two months before the election and until her term ends on June 30.
“It is best for Mrs. Arroyo to heed the statement of senior officers and extend the term of General Ibrado. If
she decides to appoint Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit in March, it will not only be a flagrant violation of the law but a
trigger for unrest,” he said.
Binay said he was informed that “senior officers and the ranks of the AFP will take the appointment of a
general known to be loyal to Arroyo as an attempt to influence the outcome of the national elections.”
“They also feel that Mrs. Arroyo wants to have someone loyal to her at the helm of the military as an
insurance. In the event of failure of elections and widespread street protest, she can readily summon the
military leadership to her side and declare martial law. These selfishly political considerations for the
appointment of Bangit would certainly cause unrest within the ranks of the military,” Binay said.
Binay, a colonel in the reserve force of the Philippine Marines, said that Arroyo has the bad habit of extending
favors to members of Class 1978 of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA).
Bangit is a member of PMA Class ‘78 while Arroyo is an adopted member of that class.
He said Mrs. Arroyo should respect the seniority system in the military by naming someone older and more
experienced than Bangit.
He said Ibrado should be succeeded by someone who is more senior than Bangit and who is not
suspected of supporting a plan to extend Arroyo’s stay in Malacañang.
“This government has never improved the equipment of soldiers, never increased the defensive and
offensive capability of the AFP and the Philippine Navy and never delivered the requirements of a strong
Philippine Army,” he said.
Despite all the noise, however, Ibrado is keeping his distance from all talks of term extension.
He said he doesn’t want to create any kind of impression that would influence the country’s decision makers.
In the eye of a storm
Some officials agreed with Ibrado but they said Bangit’s appointment would only trigger intrigue that would
place the AFP in the eye of a political storm.
A noted political analyst has warned of a constitutional crisis if President Arroyo insists on appointing a new
chief justice and AFP chief of staff within the election period.
Patricio Mangubat, in an e-mail to defense reporters, said the upcoming retirements of Supreme Court Chief
Justice Reynato Puno and Ibrado are “too destabilizing.”
“If you look at it, these symbols of democracy are now being put to the supreme test. We speak of justice
here and of the symbol of state power, two pillars on which democracy rests,” Mangubat writes.
While the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has started the selection process, Mrs. Arroyo has insisted that
she would exercise her executive prerogative on the choice of Puno’s replacement.
Mangubat said that all four presidentiables - Noynoy Aquino, Gilbert Teodoro, Manny Villar and Richard
Gordon - are opposing the move of the President to appoint Puno’s replacement.
“All these fine gentlemen know that this will surely destabilize the current political situation,” he said.
Mangubat said these issues “rest on just two choices for Mrs. Arroyo.
“The first choice is, will she act like she’s still in power by forcing these issues and showing the Filipino
people that she’s still a force to contend with? Or really accept the fact that she’s now a lame duck president
and everyone is just waiting for her to retire?” Mangubat said.
He warned that if the President exercises her powers and makes a wrong decision, meaning, force the
issue of naming an interim Chief Justice and appointing her man to the top AFP post, “this will send a wrong
signal to all political forces and even foreign observers.”
“This will surely re-activate all forces who suspect Mrs. Arroyo’s real intentions of not really and seriously
making herself scarce and inevitably, destabilize the entire political situation. Seriously, Mrs. Arroyo’s time as
a serious political player has all but lapsed. Time has caught up with her,” Mangubat explained.
Guardians of democracy
Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales, on the other hand, yesterday emphasized that the role of the AFP in
the May elections is to safeguard its sanctity and not to engage in any partisan political activities and
cheating.
Gonzales issued this guideline in his closing remarks during the department-wide annual performance
meeting attended by the top brass of the defense department and the AFP.
He warned that any member of the military caught engaging in partisan politics or cheating in the 2010
elections will be dealt with accordingly.
He emphasized the need for the AFP to regain the people’s respect and trust in its professionalism. This is
the reason he put the AFP at the full disposal of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“In the coming election, we will be there. We will be performing our job. I want us to prove that the AFP is the
true guardian of our democracy,” Gonzales explained.
“We will help Comelec do its job. This is crucial in regaining our credibility during elections,” he added. -
Jaime Laude, Jose Rodel Clapano, Aurea Calica
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