A civilian should replace Orly - DEMAND AND SUPPLY

The resignation of Orly Mercado as Defense Secretary is a big loss. And the reason he gave for leaving ahead of schedule is also bothersome. The shenanigans of Erap and his cronies aside, Orly was doing something good at DND. He was cleaning up the financial mess at the retirement benefits fund. He was also changing the procurement process to make it more transparent.

In other words, Orly tried to breakup the syndicates of corruption at the defense establishment. This is something that is difficult for previous defense secretaries who were retired military officers to do. This is reason enough for President Gloria to name another civilian to replace Orly. We need someone who is not part of the old boy network at Camp Aguinaldo, someone who is familiar with our security concerns and of course, someone who can work with the guys in uniform.

In the United States, retired military officers cannot be named as Defense Secretary for a number of years after retirement. And US Presidents made an effort to name a civilian. This is why retired generals, like Colin Powell and Alexander Haig before him, were named to head the State Department instead. Usually, members of Congress knowledgeable about defense matters like Vice President Dick Chaney or technocrats like Robert McNamara are named to head defense.

Sen. Jun Magsaysay is to be commended for knowing the level of his competence in declining the nomination. An honest politician like that is hard to find. There are others like Senators Frank Drilon, Tito Guingona, Robert Barbers, Serge Osmena and former Speaker Manny Villar who would all make excellent Secretaries for National Defense. I’m not sure about publicity hungry Roy Golez. He may be competent but when you try too hard to get noticed, people wonder about your personal agenda.

From the private sector, the name that comes to mind is Dr. Allan Ortiz who used to work behind the scenes on national security matters in previous administrations. But whoever he or she might be, President Gloria’s choice must be one whose lack of ties to the military allows him or her to look at the job with a fresh perspective.

Orly’s successor must also be IT savvy because national security in this age of the Internet has vastly changed. The new defense chief must also continue some of Orly’s initiatives like the transparent procurement system. But most of all, it must be someone who is a child of the EDSA 2 revolution, one who shares the spirit of this people power uprising and its high moral values and standards for governance.

Orly started a revolution of moral values at DND. We hope Gloria’s appointee will follow through. And maybe, President Gloria should not appoint anyone with pending cases at defense or anywhere else in government. Some sub cabinet appointees are reported to have pending cases involving graft and corruption. That reduces the credibility of her commitment to the high moral standards of EDSA 2. Vicky, Pat and Chito should do a better job of screening appointees.

Joe de V

I got a call from an old friend, Gina de Venecia and I got an earful about our Friday column. Gina clarified that Joe is not the power broker some people might think, even if he is party chairman of Lakas. The real power these days, she said, is Rene de Villa. "They shred all our recommendations to Gloria," she complained.

Gina also denied Joe tried to stop the Lakas congressmen from toppling then Speaker Arnulfo Fuentabella. The truth is, Gina asserted, they didn’t have the numbers when the candidate for Fuentabella’s replacement was Manny Villar. Gina said they only got the numbers when Villar was replaced by Sonny Belmonte.

Gina insists Joe is trying to maintain a low profile these days but as party chairman, party members seek him out for advice and favors. Joe has been so maligned as a trapo, Gina laments, but he is just trying to do his share for the country.

I told her it is my feeling that all the old politicians should just fade away from the scene and allow the younger ones to take over. And, I assured her, I think this includes Rene de Villa. Actually, I am worried that some of the Ramos boys that damaged the last two years of his presidency may manage to get back in power. Maybe Vicky Garchitorena will be more credible as Executive Secretary.

The Ramos boys are vulnerable to accusations of the pot calling the kettle black. For instance, there are still those scams in Clark, not just the Centennial Village, that FVR must account for. A good example is that overpriced spur road from the expressway that was never finished. FVR entrusted that to a retired military officer who failed him and the nation after hundreds of millions of pesos were misspent.

As for the old time politicians, including one from the Marcos era, who were named by President Gloria to her cabinet, Gina assures that Joe de V had nothing to do with their appointments. If these people got in without passing through the screening process, it isn’t Joe de V’s fault.

As for Peping Cojuangco, another old friend, Maria Montelibano called to say her Tito Peping has no ambition to occupy any government position. And neither is his group, COPA, sourgraping. Well, they could have fooled me.

After I saw that TV news report about their meeting last week, and Peping’s interview on ANC, I thought this is one group trying very hard to claim credit for EDSA 2. I thought COPA seemed desperate enough to get noticed they were willing to risk a conflict among the generals. Why is getting credit so important, if they don’t expect to profit from it as Maria claims? I thought doing it for the country is enough reason to fight corrupt governments such as Erap’s.

As with Gina, I told Maria that she should tell her principals to just fade away and let some of our young professionals who understand the spirit of EDSA 2 take over. People are sick of the old tired faces of politicians who had their chance at governance and failed.

Cabinet

You must have heard that President Gloria placed Sen. Brenda Tililing in the Cabinet. And locked it.

And of course, you have heard that Mark Jimenez bought a new SUV, a Ford Extradition.

Finally, you all know that the problem with a senator who thinks she’s a genius is that she is actually a victim of a Promil overdose.

(Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected])