Sirs, where are the good men?

The corrupt

The joke that went the rounds again this week is this...from the Philippine Military Academy to the Philippine Millionaire's Army. What had happened to our cavaliers?


Former Chief of Staff Angelo Reyes is set to be investigated further on allegations of former Colonel Rabusa that he received 50 million pesos from the AFP boy's club shortly after his retirement. Rabusa said, this is already a "tradition" in the AFP--that monies from major service units are re-aligned and amassed into what Senate president Juan Ponce-Enrile said was the AFP's "slush fund"and given to high-ranking military officers. 


The "slush fund", which amounts to 40 million every month, is sourced through different means. The fund is supposed to fund the Chief of Staff's activities, pay off media and several people and given to the C-S (Chief of Staff) after his retirement. 


Several sources say, the AFP as an institution is so corrupt that it is now the main stumbling block to progress of the Filipino People. I believe them.


Soldiers have lost hope that the institution will ever be changed. The oft-repeated line right now is "don't grumble now. wait for your turn."


It seems that all institutions of governance have turned from bad to worst. Graft and corruption have seeped into all levers of governance. And why is this so?


Is it because of low pay? Is it because soldiers and high-ranking officers receive no benefits? I doubt it. 


I think one of the reasons is the lack of sustaining indoctrination among the soldiers. Soldiers have to be properly indoctrinated.


They have to be asked why they want to be soldiers. Many of them would definitely answer that the reason is poverty--they want to escape the vicious claws of poverty that afflicted them and their families, and the only means is to go to the PMA and study.


Okey, that's fine, but there's something terribly wrong with this. They see the AFP, the establishment, as an economic body, not a service unit of the government.


Soldiers become soldiers not to become rich or wealthy, but to be defenders of the people. Soldiers want to become soldiers because they have this desire to serve the People. 


I think this all started when Ferdinand Marcos, transformed the AFP into his personal army. Cronyism replaced professionalism. High-ranking military officials were given perks, treated like petty millionaires and petty kings, and pampered by the dictator. For over fifteen years, this became institutionalized. 


Yet, look at the flipside, we were given twenty five years to reform the AFP and this was the slogan of the Reform the Armed Forces of the Philippines who became RAM before---reform. What had happened?

Reformers all...but where are those reforms?

RAM founder Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan even became a legislator--and was given the powers to reform the very institution he so fought for all his life. Honasan became a legend within the change agents in the AFP, but what happened? 


Several laws and life-altering orders were made specifically to change the very organization, but the culture of impunity and the values remained the same. The soldier remained committed to a desire to live a life of plenty out of the dire poverty of the people.


Honasan's classmate, Major General Carlos Garcia (member of PMA Class 1971) is now even tagged as the main or chief promoter of graft and corruption. 

Where are these good men in the background?

Deep-seated are the problems of the institution and it even worsened after the dictatorship. What needs to be done?


Where are the good men who defended the country with their selfless love? 


Where are the good men who became soldiers out of their patriotism?


Where are the good men who would risk their lives for the people and expect nothing in return? Are these men relegated to the barracks?


Some would say---we produce good cavaliers but the corrupt system made them lose their focus.


Crap.


The soldier has the responsibility of correcting the wrongs of the system. The soldier has the right to change the system. If that very system is the institution they belong to, these soldiers, true soldiers of the Filipino People, have every right in them to unite and storm the barracks with their righteous cries.


Like any other institution, the Armed Forces of the Philippines needs a shot in the arm. The AFP needs drastic reforms, particularly in values. 


What the Filipino People need are people who would sacrifice their lives out of love of country, not of money.


What the Filipino People need are soldiers who would stay true to what they promised to live by---COURAGE, INTEGRITY AND LOYALTY. Where's patriotism, sir?


Is it courage to strike a deal and amass monies from the public coffers and have the courage not to talk about it?


Is it integrity to abide by the rules and traditions that mold evil men than good men?


Is it loyalty to the powers-that-be that live off from the monies of an ever-suffering people? Let me publish here what Jose M. Crisol, a PMA'er from Class 42 wrote and published in the PMA website.

Courage ! Integrity ! Loyalty !

By JOSE M. CRISOL, PMA '42

There are three words that are deeply entrenched in a cadet's heart, three words that he zealously guards against defilement and pollution.

These three are: COURAGE, INTEGRITY, and LOYALTY. They are not cold and meaningless abstractions. They are not merely words. They are beacon lights that illumine the way as the cadet journeys toward the goal of his ambitions.

They form the vertices of the triangle that bind the limits of the sphere of his conduct. This triumvirate of manly virtues is the basic pillar of a cadet's character.

A failing or a weakening of one eventuates in the collapse of the moral make-up of a cadet. Each in conjunction with the other two acts as a moral fortress to safeguard the cadet against the onslaughts of the vicious and corruptive influences of the world.