For someone like me who has seen a myriad of schemes of unscrupulous officers to milk money from the nation’s treasury, I am proud to be a living witness that these men are soldiers the Filipino people would be proud of. From the time they entered the service, they have not been involved in any shenanigans.

They are not, for example, the kind of officers who would sell "hot" lumber confiscated from illegal loggers. They would never dream of buying truckloads of cases of Australian beer from the base commissary and sell it to girlie bars in East Timor. Nor would they stoop as low as converting to cash the fuel, oil and lubricant allocations from their units. Heaven forbid that they ever even think of taking a 20 percent commission from the conversion of US$800-million worth of aid from the United Nations intended for the Filipino troops in East Timor.

By the way, the last caper was courtesy of a former chief of staff who was earlier vocal about his intentions to run for president. Fortunately for the Filipino people, he decided to abort his plans.

We have an endearing term for officers in the AFP who come from humble beginnings, obtain a degree from the Philippine Military Academy and move on to become generals. They are usually called "rural boys who make good."

While not a PMAer however, General Ramos was able to rise from being a scruffy little boy in a little-known barrio in Tumauini, Isabela to become a well-respected general in the AFP. General Ibrado is, to my mind, an Ilonggo who is not necessarily a braggart. His medals attest to his immeasurable services to the AFP.

I’d like to think that this man is destined for greater things ahead. I remember in the late 70s, Ibrado was training officer of the Special Forces in the jungles of Dingalan in Aurora province. A captain in his class accidentally shot him in the stomach with a caliber .45 pistol.

Ibrado, who was shot early evening, could not be ferried to the nearest hospital which was actually hundreds of kilometers away in Cabanatuan City, traversing rough roads. Even a 6x6 truck could not make it through because a raging typhoon was sweeping across Luzon, and virtually all the towns in Pangasinan, a necessary route, were under water.

I then asked the commanding general of the Philippine Air Force to allow me to commandeer a helicopter that would airlift then Lt. Ibrado from Dingalan to V. Luna Hospital in Quezon City. After 17 hours with almost no medical attention whatsoever, the feisty soldier miraculously survived.

I think this is an omen that Ibrado survived to become our nation’s next chief of staff. I just hope he does. We need more of his kind for the AFP to survive its present turmoil.