Reforms ongoing in AFP

The Army welcomes the investigation on Gen Carlos Garcia. Contrary to rumors and speculations that there is demoralization within the military as a result of the alleged corruption committed by some officers, the soldier’s morale is high that finally those guilty will be put in jail. What is disheartening is the way your paper projects this investigation, making it appear that the case is just recent, when in fact it goes back to year 2004 when Gen Garcia was indicted in graft and corruption cases.

Please look at your headline yesterday, February 3, “Businesses Worried about AFP Corruption”. It gives readers the impression that the issue is very current. We are talking here of a case filed and heard in year 2000 to 2003, and this corruption problem had been addressed vigorously.

Also, please refer to the Postscript by Mr. Federico Pascual Jr. (Prosecutors have no resolve, imagination); he asked, “How do you solve the problem of corruption in the military?” He likewise mentioned in his past article published on 01 February, “Have you realized these coincidences? While Rabusa exploded his bombs in Senate…suddenly there are explosives in the national capital and elsewhere claiming innocent lives and momentarily grabbing the headlines”, as if he was insinuating that the bombing was a handiwork by someone in the military to divert the attention away from the Garcia case. Was it intentional that he reversed the chronology of the incident?

I hope our intention is not to destroy the entire AFP organization with this unfair reporting.

Kudos to Mr. Alex Magno for rightly informing Opinion readers that reforms in the AFP had been undertaken long before these bombshells exploded. It is still work in progress but we have gone a long way into improving systems in the organization to curb corruption.