CA promotes 70 AFP officers

Except for the military general who initiated the survey against former Magdalo leader and now Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, a total of 70 military officers ranging from colonel to general were promoted yesterday by the Commission on Appointments (CA) during plenary session.

On the motions of Davao City Rep. Prospero Nograles, who is also chair of the House committee on appointments, the CA committee level’s decision to reject the promotion of Army Col. Nestor Sadiarin to brigadier general was overturned by the entire CA panel in caucus.

Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile had also made a counter motion asking the committee to include Sadiarin in the list of officers to be confirmed, saving the beleaguered general from getting an outright rejection by the CA panel.

Sadiarin, head of the Army’s Community Relations Service, earned the ire of Senators Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal for conducting a politically charged survey among soldiers shortly after Trillanes won the senatorial elections last May.

Sadiarin was further placed in hot water when he failed to provide Madrigal and the CA committee on national defense with the copy of the survey last month.

“I have only one question. What is the purpose of committee hearings? Will it be overturned by the CA?  Let’s not have a committee hearing, just a caucus,” Lacson fumed. “This is not about Sadarin, this is not about Trillanes. This is about the CA... It was the House contingent that egged me to go back.”

“The nominee was not just obfuscating, he was blatantly lying. There was a sardonic grin on his face, as if he was smacking the committee... It’s an issue between Sadiarin and the committee on national defense.”

Lacson said he reluctantly agreed that the CA committee tackle Sadiarin’s appointment anew “to give (a chance to) other members” of the CA not present to hear Sadiarin.

“I am not trying to delay. I yielded to the request of the House contingent,” Lacson said.

Madrigal and Lacson believed that Sadiarin misled the committee when he provided them with the copy of another survey, far different from the Trillanes survey.

The issue involved a controversial survey conducted on June 5 where soldiers were asked questions like, “Ex-Lt. Trillanes wants to be in power so he will not be held accountable for his part in the Oakwood event.”

Other questions included, “I believe ex-Lt. Trillanes is supported by politicians who want a divided AFP,” and “The support that Trillanes got in the last election represents the silent approval that agrees with extra-constitutional reforms to achieve change.”

Lacson and Madrigal filed perjury raps against Sadiarin on Tuesday for two instances that the general “lied” at the CA.