The ‘sudden’ turnover in command of the Philippine Navy from retiring Admiral Ernie de Leon to Mateo Mayuga

Although the President kept in pectore up to the last minute who’ll take over the helm of the Philippine Navy as the new FOIC (Flag-Officer-in-Command), yesterday afternoon she reportedly signed the appointment papers of Vice-Admiral Mateo Mayuga (Philippine Military Class 1973).

In effect, Vice-Admiral Ernesto H. de Leon (PMA ’72), in a ceremony at Navy Headquarters on Roxas Boulevard tomorrow afternoon will formally turn over the flag to his successor, Mayuga, who’s currently Inspector General of the Armed Forces. Indeed, Mayuga (like Ernie de Leon already of 3-star rank) has the credentials – he graduated from the Naval War College in Rhode Island, United States, and is a career Naval professional – best of all he is a "seadog" as they say in Navy parlance. ("Seadog" means that he command Naval ships in action, instead of being a "Seacat" who only rose to higher rank by commanding a desk – in short, the latter is a land-bound officer, not a Blue Water officer).

De Leon was once asked to describe Mayuga’s character, and Ernie replied: "He’s as salty as me!" Time will tell whether Old Salt Mayuga will be firm at the helm in these troubled times. The trouble is that he’s only got until December 2006, which is a year from now, before he, too, must retire.

Why is one of our finest officers, Vice Admiral de Leon bowing out of military service on December 5, three months ahead of his compulsory retirement date of March 22 next year? De Leon decided to step down early, apparently, to give La Presidenta a chance to choose from a list of five "candidates." I hear he may be offered an Ambassadorship, perhaps, as the whispers go, as envoy to Canberra, Australia. De Leon, among his long list of studies, trained in Australia in strategic maneuvers and is familiar with the country.

However, I think he is much more suited for a post in Western Europe. De Leon studied in the Ecole de Guerre in France, is fluent in French, and is very attuned to both military and political affairs in that sphere of the world. Last year, Ernie was honored by French President Jacques Chirac with the Legion d’Honneur (France’s highest decoration), and had previously held the Du Merite, i.e. the Ordre National du Merite (The National Order of Merit) of the French Republic.

If you ask me, he ought to be appointed, if President GMA really plans to draft De Leon into the diplomatic service, our Ambassador to Brussels – a position now vacant and, well, "up for grabs." Since Inquirer Columnist Amando Doronila "withdrew" from contention, a number of career diplomats, all of them women, have been vying for the job.

The job of Ambassador to Brussels is very complex and virtually important, even if it doesn’t appear to be as essential as Paris or Rome at first blush. Our Ambassador there would not only be the envoy to the Kingdom of Belgium, but Ambassador to the entire European Union, the European Commission, the European Parliament – and, plus-plus, the powerful North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the military alliance that guards the security of Europe and embodies the Atlantic alliance between Europe and the USA. What better envoy could we recruit then than someone who understands not just Europe, but military affairs as well?

Brussels itself is basically French-speaking, although now multilingual international metropolis housing all the envoys and delegates of the European Union. This is because, traditionally, the Walloons – the French-speaking Belgians – dominate the capital, although the Flemish, speaking a language akin to Dutch, are the most prominent and aggressive on the political landscape. Antwerp, Ghent (where Dr. Jose Rizal completed his second novel, El Filibusterismo) and Bruges are the most famous and puissant Flemish cities. Indeed, Stella Artois, the most renowned export beer – but not their best, I must say – is brewed in Wevelgem in West Flanders, also the homeland of the most delicious Belgian Fries.

If I sound partial to the Flemish, it’s because my two best friends hailed from Flanders – the first, the late Father Joe Herpels, who used to be a Belgian Missionary priest in the farthest reaches of the Mountain Province, and former Prime Minister, later Foreign Minister Leo Tindemanns who was my "classmate" in Harvard under Henry Kissinger.

In our younger days, Leo would drive me to a couple of CVP (Christian Socialist Party) meetings in Antwerp and Mechlen. "See?" He would remark to me with a twinkle in his eye, "the delegates don’t pay too much attention to the national hymn, but they stand up and sing at the top of their voices when the band strikes up The Flemish Lion (the anthem of the Flemish)."

The irreverent Father Joe, with his wit, good humor, and devotion to God’s work, became his friend Leo’s "adviser" when he returned to Belgium – in truth, he was mine, too. He taught me that piety doesn’t always come with a dour face and solemnity. He was funny, wise, and practical. When he was dying in a hospital in Brussels some years ago, I managed to get a phone call to his hospital room from Manila. "Father Joe," I sadly exclaimed to him, "You were supposed to live forever!"

He chuckled: "That’s where I’m going, Max – to live forever."

God bless you, Father Joe! Pray for us from Heaven.

* * *

Before I get to sound too maudlin from digression, let me give Ernie de Leon a well-deserved hail – and farewell. As he steps into civilian life, doffing the uniform he wore with both gallantry and honor, he deserves The Salute. Among his naval achievements is that he went toe-to-toe with Chinese naval intruders in the Scarborough reef.

"We’re back to the era of the trireme and the Roman Galleys in our Navy," he once mourned, "when most often the only means of attack of our poorly equipped ships is to ram the ‘enemy’ vessel."

He chased off the pirates and smugglers in Subic. He mounted and supervised the operation which electronically tracked down, attacked, then tagged the notorious Abu Sayyaf murderer and hostage-taker, the man who had terrorized Martin and Gracia Burnham, the rat Abu Sabaya, alias Aldam Tilao. Abu Sabaya went down to a watery grave, his motorized banca riddled with bullets, leaving behind only his designer dark glasses.

Most of all, Ernie is a man who stood proud by the motto of his school – while some others (like one general just convicted by Court Martial, dishonorably discharged, and sentenced to "hard labor") have not – namely, Courage, Integrity and Loyalty.

* * *

Sanamagan. Some Thais are really sourgrapers and sore losers. Back in Bangkok, Government Spokesman Surapong Suebwonglee followed his boss, Thaksin "Big Mouth" Shinawatra, to take another swipe at the officiating and other purportedly unsportsmanlike actions to give Filipino athletes alleged homecourt advantage. That joker cited among others the 5,000-meter run in which the Filipino contender swerved into his Thai rival’s lane to block him off and prevent him from finishing first. The Thai spokesman didn’t mention, however, that the Filipino had immediately been disqualified (and banned), with the Gold Medal being awarded to the Thai runner.

The Government Spokesman bragged that the Thais will be "good hosts" instead and "guarantee fair play" when Bangkok hosts the next SEA Games competition. Sus – probably our first impulse, after indignation at that dope’s stupid remarks, would be to announce we’re "boycotting" the next SEA Games in Thailand. On the contrary, we ought to begin training our athletes to be better, stronger, faster, more resilient – so they go to Thailand and lick the pants off them over there, even in kick-boxing. If Khun Suprapong’s idea of "fair play" is to let the foreign competitors win, then he must instruct his referees and umpires to let Filipinos win there, too. Will he do this? Only in your dreams. The favorite Thai expression is mai pen rai – never mind. Do you think they’ll not mind us Pinoys and Pinays conquering in Krung Thep?

We mustn’t waste our saliva or emotion resenting such a cretin as Suprapong. You’ll find a number of such loudmouths in every country, salamabit, sad to admit, a lot of them in our own.

What we can do – and so far have failed to do – is rejoice in the glorious burst of energy and excellence, the truly Gold-gushing performance of our sportsmen and women, our athletes and competitors. By golly, doesn’t it bring a tear to the eye each time the Filipino flag goes up in victory because one of our boys and girls went in there, giving it everything – and came out triumphant? In a season of woes, disappointment and self-doubt, here’s a magnificent burst of sunshine, and we’re too busy focused on nonsensical political hogwash to give a hip-hip-hooray and a cheer for our wonderful champions! To the surprise of many (it should not be surprising) many of our best come from our military.

But every one of our athletes are in there pitching, on horseback, on the firing range, in dragon boats, in baseball. In Bacolod, to the groans of 15,000 fans, the games had begun with a heartbreaking last-minute goal denying our team victory – a painful blow to Negros Iloilo, where our finest football (soccer) players traditionally are grown. But what the heck, win or lose, our players did and are doing their fantastic best.

So, Mabuhay to our Gold Rush champs! You gladden our hearts – you bring honor to our nation!