Good idea for a civilian at DND helm

Even before Angelo Reyes finally resigned as Secretary of National Defense, the Senate had recommended that a policy be made that would require the appointment of a civilian as Secretary of National Defense. If at all, someone who served in the Armed Forces must have been retired from three to five years prior to his appointment to the DND post.

The policy sounds good and reasonable. In the US, no matter how good Colin Powell had been as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he could not be appointed Secretary of Defense precisely because he had been a military officer. He is doing very well as Secretary of State and had ironically been less warlike than the civilian Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary.

The policy makes sense. The person representing the civilian President in the day-to-day operations of the armed forces must also be a civilian. Having a military as DND chief risks a kind of tunnel vision that is totally military. Worse, the in-fighting among the different sub-groups within the AFP gets carried over to the DND.

In the case of Angelo Reyes, his seamless movement from AFP Chief of Staff to Secretary of National Defense, was as if he never left the top AFP post. It didn’t help that the AFP Chiefs were serving extremely short terms of office of as little as two months. That was not good for the morale of the AFP, whose officers must have felt boxed in by someone who was for all practical purposes, an overstaying AFP Chief.

Ate Glo is now serving as her own Defense Chief. Of course she can’t do that for long. She has to appoint a permanent one. Hopefully, she appoints a civilian who has had nothing to do with the AFP or her administration’s security agenda that is now under serious question. This should remove Roy Golez and Usec Gacis from consideration.

In this light, it is unfortunate that the man Ate Glo is inclined to appoint is a Ramos era military officer, former Rep. Eduardo Ermita. Mr. Ermita had been too identified with the failed peace initiatives in Mindanao. The Oakwood gang also mentioned him in a document that taints him. Even if he has denied the authenticity of his signature, his ability to win the confidence not only of some of the soldiers but the public as well has been unfortunately limited. We need a fresh face, untainted by the mistakes of the past.

The new DND Chief should be respectable by both the civilian and military sectors. That removes a prominent congressman who had been nominated by some of his colleagues. After the appointment of Blas Ople to the DFA, I don‘t think we should continue to raid the Senate for cabinet appointments, which should remove Jun Magsaysay and former General Biazon from contention. As for FVR, let FVR the old soldier fade away in style, delivering speeches abroad and collecting speaker‘s fees in dollars to help our sinking peso.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two names capable of injecting new vigor and trust within the Defense establishment. One is Dick Gordon, whose talents are being wasted in Tourism and the other is former SSS Administrator Rene Valencia. The most important thing is that neither Dick nor Rene had anything to do with the current mess in the national security sector. Also, I don‘t think either is seeking the job. That‘s important. The worse person Ate Glo can appoint is the one who wants the job badly.

Dick, with his boundless enthusiasm in rallying people in the service of the country, should be just what the AFP needs to regain morale. Dick has what it takes to whip up team spirit in our highly fractious armed forces. If there is someone who can redirect their efforts towards a sense of patriotism over the interests of current cliques within the military, it is Dick.

Rene Valencia on the other hand, has a pretty solid background in the military sector, having been a Peemayer himself. But he resigned his commission early and established himself as a respected financial and management expert.

If there is one thing the defense sector needs at this time it is an expert manager with proven financial management skills. Rene‘s reputation as a man of integrity throughout his career in civilian government institutions and in the private sector is also needed to regain the trust of both soldiers and taxpayers on the DND.

Of course, these suggestions are only unsolicited advice being made in the desire to be of help. It is important that the President make the right appointment. If she lets politics get into the appointment criteria the way it did when she appointed an ex-congressman to the Supreme Court, we will have problems. The fate of our democracy could well hang in the balance.

What To Eat

The New York Times last week carried a news story warning on the dangers of eating fish due to possible mercury contamination. Here is a paragraph from that report.

The Food and Drug Administration recommends that children, as well as women of childbearing age, eat no more than 12 ounces of fish a week and avoid tilefish, swordfish, shark and king mackerel, all of them ocean fish known to be high in mercury. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends no more than six ounces of freshwater fish a week.

That got me really worried and confused. What am I supposed to eat? Meat raises my cholesterol level and fresh vegetables expose me to amoebic dysentery or chemical fertilizer residue that could cause cancer. Antibiotics given to chicken by poultry raisers are bad for those who eat a lot of chicken in the thought that it is better than pork or beef in terms of cholesterol.

So, I e-mailed my sister who is a top doctor at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland. I wanted to know what I could eat safely. She saw the silliness of the whole thing and replied in this tongue-in-cheek manner.

"Do what I do – spread the poisons, which means that you have to eat a little of everything. The emphasis is on little. The latest evidence is that starvation is the best way to a long life. Having said that, I know that I would rather enjoy myself and live a shorter life than starve!"

But there is hope. There is something we can take by mouth that‘s not bad for us. Reuters reports that "molecules found in red wine, peanuts and other products of the plant world have for the first time been shown to mimic the life-extending effects of calorie restriction, a finding that could help researchers develop drugs that lengthen life and prevent or treat aging-related diseases."

Researchers are said to be excited that one of the molecules, a compound known as resveratrol, was shown in a study to extend the life span of yeast cells by up to 80 percent. Resveratrol exists naturally in grapes and red wine. Tests on worms and flies were already yielding "encouraging" results.

Then again, humans aren‘t quite yeast, mice, worms or flies. But what the heck! Drink up. Next time your wife asks you why you spend so much time in a bar, tell her you are doing it for your health.

Timeless

Reader Orly Morable forwarded this one.

A girl was visiting her blond friend who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were.

The blonde responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.

Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?"

"HellOOOooo," answered the blond. "They’re watch dogs!"

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