No return to barracks

The Makati mutineers agreed to return to barracks. But after that latest military misadventure, it will take a long time before the Armed Forces of the Philippines will go back to the barracks.

During the Ramos administration, when rebel soldiers forged a peace agreement with the government and were given amnesty, the nation thought that problem was finally over. More than a decade without a coup attempt lulled the nation into thinking that the AFP was on its way to becoming a non-political, professional army.

Then there was EDSA II. It was no coincidence that the popular uprising succeeded because it had a military and police component. EDSA III followed but failed, and part of the reason – aside from the lost cause – was the absence of military support.

The military officers who sealed the fate of a doomed Joseph Estrada invoked the Constitution in their defection. Still, the nation thought the days of military adventurism were over. After all, there were no troop movements at EDSA Dos, only the top commanders announcing a shift in their loyalty.

But other soldiers apparently thought otherwise. And so we got the mutiny in Makati, which started out with the renegade soldiers demanding the resignation of their commander-in-chief.

Seeing all those heavily armed soldiers on TV, ringing the Glorietta with lethal booby-traps as they demanded another regime change, Filipinos knew the bad old days were back.

Will Philippine soldiers ever return to barracks? The way things stand it’s like trying to put toothpaste back into the tube.

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Military adventurism can be discouraged only if soldiers get a clear message that coup attempts, mutinies and destabilization operations do not pay.

Sure, the Arroyo administration is throwing everything at the mutineers, with the leaders getting even the kitchen sink. The mutineers’ financiers and civilian conspirators are being hounded with criminal charges and arrest.

But the renegade soldiers, no matter how pathetically comic their mutiny, have succeeded in highlighting the rot in the military.

Even if the nation heard the mutineers’ litany of complaints the whole day Sunday, July 27, Filipinos are still eager to hear the soldiers’ story once they testify before the Feliciano commission. The soldiers are likely to repeat their allegations during the mutiny: the sale of AFP weapons and ammunition to rebels, and the deadly bombings ordered by the government in Mindanao that were blamed on Muslim separatists.

Maybe the soldiers will drop their allegation that the escape of Indonesian terrorist Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi was part of a grand plan to impose martial law. But who knows? No tale is too wild in this country; every conspiracy theory has its believers.

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The government will debunk the accusations and continue with the prosecution of the mutineers. Yet it also has no choice but to do something about allegations of corruption in the military.

Yesterday President Arroyo announced the creation of a task force that will recommend reforms to address AFP corruption. Military and defense officials, initially spared from lifestyle checks, will now be included. The Presidential Anti-Graft Commission has in fact started its probe into the assets of Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, who has become the most beleaguered public official in the wake of the mutiny.

The Philippine National Police announced that all its members would also undergo lifestyle checks.

Procurement functions in the AFP have been taken over by the Department of Budget and Management. Procurement and fund disbursement procedures are being fine-tuned to minimize opportunities for graft.

The mutineers will always claim that their escapade galvanized the government into action. This they can claim as a form of victory, and there are many soldiers who will agree. Another victory for the mutineers was the resignation of Brig. Gen. Victor Corpus from the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

When a mutiny gets such dramatic results, how can the AFP ever return to barracks?

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Apart from reforming the uniformed services to remove any more excuses for coup attempts, the government must turn its attention to the Philippine Military Academy. There are fears that the PMA is turning into a breeding ground for armed and dangerous guys with infantile fraternity mentality.

In the wake of the mutiny, there have been proposals to abolish the PMA. Armed Forces chief Narciso Abaya, a West Pointer, wants a special center set up instead to train the military’s officer corps.

I don’t know if a special center will abolish the type of twisted male bonding that tends to develop in a profession that requires harsh discipline and obedience to superior officers. Maybe the military attracts certain types with abnormal levels of testosterone, men who suffer from arrested development even in their 50s. Just take a look at the mutineers’ inspiration, Sen. Gregorio Honasan. You think he will ever grow up?

If the government wants the Philippine soldier to return to barracks for good, reforms should start with the training of the officer corps.

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DEPLETED FUNDS? Amid complaints from members who have not received their retirement benefits or availed themselves of loans for the past three months, the Government Service Insurance System announced yesterday that fund processing would resume this Friday. The culprit in the delay, the GSIS said, is the system’s computerization. The GSIS has P181 billion, officials said. They debunked reports that the delay was because the system’s funds had been frittered away in frivolous "investments" such as paintings.

By the way, how much interest does even P1 billion earn in three months?

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TOWING RACKET: A driver went to the Land Transportation Office in Makati yesterday to get his driver’s license. The parking area in the LTO compound was full so he decided to join the other vehicles parked on the street outside. There was a no-parking sign but a watch-your-car boy reassured him that parking was allowed. The driver entered the LTO at 12:45 p.m., underwent a drug test, and returned to his car at 1:10 p.m. His car had been towed, but other parked vehicles were still there. Payment for his car: P1,000.

In other parts of Metro Manila, drivers complain of no-parking signs that are placed as inconspicuously as possible, sometimes hidden on tree branches. Always there are parking attendants who encourage drivers to park in areas that turn out to be towing zones. Are the LTO and local governments in cahoots with these rackets?