AFP victories

President Arroyo may not know it but the business community is responding positively to the welcome developments in the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Proof is the most recent Social Weather Station (SWS) which showed that the AFP has crossed over from a negative ten rating during the last quarter of last year to a positive six rating during the same period this year.

What is significant about the survey is that the respondents are 400 or so managers of business enterprises from key cities all over the country. The AFP is one of eight government agencies which showed improved ratings. This is a good sign that the business community is feeling the impact of the reforms in, and the gains of, the country’s military sector.

The business sector welcomed the piece of good news contained in the speech of current AFP Chief of Staff General Alex Yano that the government’s anti-insurgency campaign is on-track and on-schedule. This is important to businessmen because the defeat of insurgency means greater freedom to do business in the countryside and freedom from the excessive burden of so-called “revolutionary taxes”.

But what was even more remarkable in the AFP chief’s report to the President was the defeat of military adventurism which made for much instability in the business environment in the past. This is a very welcome development since a stable and professional military organization is vital to business confidence, especially during these times when willing investors are hard to come by.

In his speech, General Yano also served notice to what he called “merchants of political wares” that the corps of officers of the AFP are not interested in grabbing political power. This is a significant signal that the AFP chief has sent since he himself appears to have been the object of overtures from some quarters that want to use the AFP for their political agenda.

We hope these groups heed General Yano’s plea – or warning – for them to “leave the AFP alone”.

As far as the business sector is concerned, a “focused and determined” AFP contributes much to the creation of an atmosphere conducive to productive economic enterprise.

President Arroyo is definitely reaping the fruits of her move to ensure that “meritocracy” served as the guidepost of her choice for AFP chief. An apolitical AFP will go a long way in ensuring that the military sector remains focused on its mission.

Whether one likes it or not, the President has much to do with the AFP’s improved image and public approval rating.

And this wider public acceptance is definitely helping the AFP win more victories.

And these victories are ours, too.

Ooops

My last column “Make Each Day Count” inadvertently lost its first paragraph which should have read:

“One of the decade’s most beloved musicals is the Broadway hit, ‘RENT’. A show about the lives of people afflicted with AIDS. And from that musical came a song that seems apt for how we should view the year to come.

“The song is entitled, Seasons of Love.”

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