Alamat ng Lahi

Feb 11 2011, 07:24 AM

abolition is not the solution

the younger classes are, they will redeem the sins of the few cavaliers that tarnished the image of the institution.

change for the better is coming.

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COMMENTARY
PMA: An image gone from posh to pot
By Gualberto B. Lumauig
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 06:44:00 02/16/2011

Filed Under: Military, Schools, Graft & Corruption
(Editor’s Note: The writer is a former member of the House of Representatives and former governor of Ifugao.)

“MYSTIFYING, is a puzzlement,” as the central character in the Broadway musical, “The King and I” would put it.

I am talking about why generals and other high-ranking officers in the Armed Forces of the Philippines, graduates all of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), have developed the propensity to tarnish and blacken the image and sacred tradition of their alma mater.

Time was when one talked of honor and discipline what came to mind was the PMA. One could not imagine the institution will produce anything but men committed to a code of conduct spelled honesty, integrity, gallantry and obedience to duty.

Ramrod straight when he walked, respectful and humble when he talked, a PMA cadet was the object of envy by young boys and of adulation by young girls.

When they graduated from the PMA and became officers in the AFP they were held in high esteem, accorded respect and deference in social and business gatherings.

Corrosion of image

This beautiful image of the PMA and its products is no more. I shake my head in sadness and regret when events of the past several years, which saw the corrosion of the noble image of the PMA and PMAyers, flash in my mind.

I do not know when the corrosion of the PMA image began. I recall, however, that in the 8th Congress of which I was a member the negative aspects of PMA were beginning to be perceived.

It was an era of coup attempts, destabilization and defiance to duly constituted authority. The disturbing fact was the promoters of all the commotion were PMAyers!

Threat to freedom

A good number of us in the 8th Congress were dismayed, distressed and disgusted that the young men whom the taxpayers sent to a military school to train to become the people’s protectors and defenders had become threats to their freedom and peaceful life.

Our reaction was swift. A proposal to abolish the PMA circulated in Congress as the academy began to be perceived not as a training site for officers and gentlemen but as breeding ground for coup plotters and destabilizers. The proposal was nipped in the bud by the then Speaker Ramon Mitra Jr. in the name of statesmanship and in deference to his PMA cadet son.

Hefty beating

Fast-forward to contemporary times. The PMA is getting hefty beatings these days, and I cannot help but wonder what parts in the PMA image are still in their proper place or if they can be located at all. That’s how tattered PMA’s image has become, no thanks to PMAyer generals who are trying their damnest best to slap mud and ordure on their alma mater.

It is not fair to generalize and say PMAyer generals have caused and are causing the disintegration of nobility and honor in the PMA. To be sure there were and there are PMAyer generals who did and do honor to their alma mater. That’s expected of them. They are the builders. But let’s look at the termites.

Congressional probe

The revelations tumbling out of the congressional investigations of corruption in the military are so sordid that they are enough to make decent citizens puke.

Generals, it is being revealed, dip their hands into the coffers they have no business touching. They pocket the money intended for the upkeep of the soldiers and the amount they steal is not peanuts. The haul of the generals is in the millions.

The shenanigans of the generals range from serious to hilarious, with receiving mind-boggling public funds as their common denominator.

The wife of one general travels as often as her feet itch. Her travel expenses (business class airfare, shopping money, clothing allowance, etc.) all provided by the AFP.

Flats in Manhattan

Their children live in tony flats in Manhattan. One of them admits he feels ill if he’s not garbed in designer outfits from head to toe. And the parents dutifully buy him the expensive outfits—with money crookedly obtained.

The wife is guarded by a security detail—from the Army, of course. The family is serviced by five drivers who naturally draw their pay from AFP. Here’s an interesting detail of the lifestyle of this general’s family which my wife cannot help chuckling over.

Cook, pianist

They have an Army cook picked by the general’s missus because aside from whipping up mouth-watering dishes he also plays the piano when the missus has a bad-hair day.

Another general is discovered to have assets that are out of this world. Or anyway out of the range of his Army pay. But he is memory-challenged. He could not recall any of the foreign trips made by his wife and who traveled 47 times mostly to the United States.

He could not recall either that his wife acquired assets, eight elegant houses to be exact, for the family in the “land of the free and home of the brave.” With what? With funds filched from the AFP, of course.

Why am I detailing the financial high jinx of the generals which by no means is thorough and complete? It is because I want to dramatize the degradation to which the prestige and honor of the PMA has sunk as a consequence of the crooked behavior of the bad eggs the academy has produced who later became top dogs in the AFP.

Cadet-nominee

My heart bleeds when the investigations of the crooked generals inflict collateral damage on the PMA. As a young boy I entertained dreams of one day becoming a PMA cadet. As a senior high school student, I was a cadet-nominee representing the Province of Ifugao. I passed the written test but failed in the physical and medical exams. It’s a noble institution anchored on the ideals of honor, valor, integrity and patriotism.

What happened between the years when the academy was viewed with awe and respect, and today when it is perceived as a producer of adventurers and of big-time crooks? Sad.

Mistah system

Some observers are pointing to the “mistah” (classmate) system or tradition as the root cause of all the perverse behavior of the top echelons in the military. The system gives license to senior officers to commit foul deeds with impunity, the foulest example of which is conversion of the soldiers’ pays into stand-by funds for the crooked military higher-ups.

It behooves us to repair the damage on the PMA and restore it to its former glory. We have few institutions left worth preserving and edifying. The PMA is one of them.

Trip to jail

I earnestly hope that the current probe of corruption in the military will result not only in the trip to jail for the thieving generals but also in legislation that would give a fresh shot in the arm of the PMA.

No sense allowing the PMA image to go from posh to pot.