For the country's good

I had the opportunity of a chat over lunch with retired General Alexander Yano at his Camp Aguinaldo residence when he was still the Armed Forces chief of staff. Our conversation touched on practically everything under the sun, including his style of management. I also asked him what he wants to do once he retires.

He told me that his most ardent wish is to be able to spend undisturbed quality time with wife Estela and their unico hijo Ervin. But of course, he emphasized that he will still be young then, and I said it would be such a waste if someone as committed as him to public service would leave the public eye that early. After all, not too many of our public servants that I know of have chosen to make professionalism in public office as their battle cry. General Yano left the AFP with this legacy. I learned that the retirement age for the head of the AFP in some countries is much, much older at 70.

It seems he finally got his wish after he bowed out of military service last May 1. But that quality time should last for only about a month and a half.

It’s off to the Sultanate of Brunei for his diplomatic post after that.

We are glad that President Arroyo, in her speech at the turnover ceremonies of the AFP last May 1, had finally disclosed the reason for the earlier-than-scheduled retirement of General Yano. According to her, the retirement date had to be adjusted a month earlier so that the former AFP chief can still be confirmed by the Commission on Appointments before Congress goes on recess in June.

This was done upon the advice of Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo himself who appears to be bullish about the prospects of General Yano’s appointment to the post in oil-rich Brunei .

The former AFP chief is actually a favorite badminton buddy of the Sultan of Brunei. I remember the General telling me that a few days after our lunch, Sultan Bolkiah was scheduled to arrive in Manila on Jan. 29 for a three-day visit and one of the first things that he did before his arrival was to inform General Yano that he wanted a badminton match.  

But of course, the General didn’t know then that he was going to be appointed envoy to Brunei and that  the country is was going to benefit from the goodwill generated by his badminton games with Sultan Bolkiah which, our news editor said recently, General Yano habitually loses by a slim margin.

We doubt that General Yano had asked for the post, though. In fact, we don’t think he ever asked for anything much for himself. When he was AFP Chief of Staff, his picture was never plastered on the AFP calendar. Nor on that huge billboard along EDSA fronting the AFP headquarters. His reason: the AFP is a team. And that he is not the AFP.  

Sad as we are that he left the AFP early, we are happy he got this post because his knowledge of Mindanao and the peace and development issues there would be a major advantage in his next assignment. 

Talking about the General’s tendency never to ask things for himself, here is a bit of information which we hope we have scooped. 

General Yano was a member of the panel of judges in the latest holding of the Binibining Pilipinas contest. He reportedly took advantage of that stint to ask the bosses of the Binibining Pilipinas Charities for the winners of the pageant to visit our wounded soldiers recovering at the V. Luna Hospital.

He got his wish. And our sources say our wounded soldiers were teary-eyed with joy during the visit of our beauty queens who were, themselves, on the verge of tears at seeing our heroes in the hospital. Quite a feat for the former AFP chief.

That’s what he did as head of our military: bringing our soldiers closer to the hearts of their countrymen.

We expect him to bring our nation closer to the heart of our neighbour Brunei when he assumes his next post.

Good luck, Ambassador Yano.

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