MARINE colonel
who headed the military component of the PNP-AFP contingent which assaulted the
Manila Peninsula has started looking for "padrinos" at the Commission on
Appointments to help swing his nomination to brigadier general.
His confirmation originally was seen as a cinch. There were
some derogatory marks on his service record and he was also perceived as a "bata-bata"
of AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon. Points against him, but not fatal to his
career.
Post-Manila Pen, Col. Jonathan Martir is the proverbial camel
seeking to pass through the needle’s eye. The opposition is determined to block
his confirmation. He is likely to stay a colonel until the AFP rule on attrition
catches up with him.
Martir pulled a macho stunt at the Pen. He manhandled Sen.
Antonio Trillanes IV and some members of the Magdalo group while they were lying
face down on the floor with their hands cuffed. Asked by a member of the CA from
the House why he did so, Martir answered that Trillanes and his companions
"deserved it."
Martir probably was only taking after Esperon, his patron.
Look where bluster, macho posturing and helping rig elections brought Esperon.
From deputy AFP deputy chief for operations, he became chief of the Special
Operations Command, then Army chief and finally chief of staff. Esperon is
reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56 on February 9 and this early, he is
talking about his being "honored" if Gloria Arroyo would extend his stay (hint,
hint, hint).
The least Martir could aspire for after displaying exemplary
loyalty to Gloria beyond the call of duty is the command of the Marine Corps, an
appointment the Board of Generals on its own would unlikely endorse given
Martir’s record of once going AWOL.
The toadies were crawling out of the Pen woodwork. The siege
gave Metro Manila police chief Geary Barias the opportunity to display his
credentials as a reliable Arroyo lap dog. That gave him a leg up over other
officers also casting moist eyes on the post that Sonny Razon is scheduled to
vacate in September.
Although minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has vowed to
oppose Barias’ appointment as PNP chief, The 1987 Constitution, fortunately for
Barias, has removed appointments at the PNP from the review of the CA. So
there’s a high probability a thug would end up heading the PNP.
But where the opposition could make its power and influence felt, it should
seek to protect us from such dangerous men in the uniformed services. Martir is
in that class of officers who do not deserve a star on their epaulets.
