EDITORIAL - Season of discontent

There’s no brewing coup d’etat, military and police officials chorused the other day. But just in case, security is being beefed up at Camp Aguinaldo and Camp Crame, headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, respectively. The latest coup rumors were fueled by an advertisement taken out the other day by a group claiming to be disgruntled senior military officials. The paid ad was an open letter to President Estrada, complaining of favoritism in the promotions of two colonels to star rank: Rodulfo Diaz who heads the Presidential Security Group and Jake Malajacan, senior aide of Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado.

In an ironic twist, Malajacan was one of the reformist officers presented to the public in a national telecast in February 1986 by then President Ferdinand Marcos. It was the start of the four-day EDSA revolt, and loyalist troops said Malajacan was one of several members of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement who had penetrated what was then called the Presidential Security Command and had planned to topple the Marcos regime in a coup. That aborted coup would have been the culmination of a reformist movement in the military that aimed to professionalize the AFP.

Now RAM leader-turned-senator Gregorio Honasan finds himself defending Malajacan’s promotion. Malajacan was promoted to colonel only in December 1998, the officers complained, and his latest promotion to brigadier general bypassed 150 senior officers.

Promotions to star rank are often controversial since there’s no rule li-miting the President to seniority or even merit in the choice of generals. It’s not the first time that promotions in the Estrada administration have stirred resentment. Even the choice of Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago’s brother to head the Philippine Air force, with a corresponding promotion recently, was reportedly met with grumblings in the ranks.

The President may be within his right to give out these stars as he wishes. But the last thing he needs in his darkest hour is discontent in the military. He can reach out to officers; he can discuss ways of boosting morale and further improving professionalism in both the AFP and PNP. Even rumor mongers concede that a coup at this time remains in the realm of rumors. But where there’s smoke, there’s likely to be fire, and a conflagration could follow. No matter how small this fire may be, it is one that the administration would want to put out immediately.