EDITORIAL - Blots on the PMA

The Philippine Military Academy held its commencement exercises yesterdaywith a call from the commander-in-chief to help bring reforms to the ArmedForces of the Philippines. On the eve of the PMA graduation ceremonies, the AFP announced the abolition of its Logistics Command, which is in charge of supply distribution and procurement for all the major service commands. Logcom functions will be farmed out to the service commands for their respective supply requirements effective April 1.

Reforms are slowly being implemented in the system of procurement and distribution of supplies – the biggest source of corruption in the AFP. There forms got underway in line with recommendations of a fact-finding panel that was formed shortly after junior officers staged a one-day mutiny in the heart of Makati in 2003. The pace of reforms was speeded up after the formerAFP comptroller, Army Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, and several other ranking military officers were implicated in a corruption scandal last year.

Garcia, like most of the top brass in both the AFP and Philippine National Police, is an alumnus of the PMA. His indictment for corruption amid suspicions that his PMA "mistahs" had tried to sweep his alleged sins under the rug was followed by other scandals involving young PMA graduates who were accused of shoplifting and sexual harassment. Those scandals cast a shadow over this year’s commencement exercises at the nation’s premier military academy.

The PMA can still erase those blots if its graduates lead the way in building a professional military. This means saying no to corruption and plugging opportunities for graft in the AFP system. This also means confining soldiers to the barracks even when the temptation becomes overwhelming to poke their misguided noses into politics. For nearly two decades, military officers – most of them PMA alumni – have played a key role in undermining the nation’s fragile democracy. Those training to become future leaders of the AFP must know the military’s role in a democracy. They must be guided by the PMA’s motto of courage, integrity, and loyalty – loyalty not to personalities, but to the flag and democratic institutions.