Facts of life

A ranking official of the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC), for example, just paid P10 million for the brand new house of his girlfriend. We can only guess where the money came from. We are also at a loss to say who is the luckier of the two – the DOTC official awash with cash or the girlfriend-beneficiary for being able to find a such generous replacement for her former politician boyfriend, who is now doing time at the national penitentiary.

The amount, however, is chicken feed compared to what another ranking official paid for a mansion in Portugal. And, simply because the said official wants to retire in a country where we do not have an extradition treaty fearing legal retribution should there be a change in administration come 2010.

Over at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Officers Village Association Inc. (AFPOVAI), the talk of the town is the recent purchase of a 400-square meter lot for a hefty P3.8-million in cold cash. Most folks there would find nothing wrong when a soldier does what he can to secure his family’s future like buying them a house. But what is disturbing is that the buyer is just a lieutenant colonel, certainly not the type to have that amount of free money floating around.

Being a career soldier myself, I had no illusions that it was financially rewarding. Now, all of sudden, some guy who is not even retired nonchalantly buys a house for a pile of money, which is even more that what most career military officers would receive as their retirement benefits after three decades of service. If you think a soldier’s pay will support a life of wanton luxury, there are even some high-ranking military officials who are habitual borrowers. Even worse, they borrow from those who cannot refuse them – their subordinates. This practice, of course, is illegal in the military establishment since time immemorial as it is in the private sector.

But back in the days when newly-relieved 4th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Jose Barbieto was just a major and a battalion commander, he allegedly borrowed money from his soldiers in secrecy, i.e., until Barbieto refused to pay his loans and the whole incident was exposed in media. Instead of being relieved, however, it was Barbieto’s benefactors who were removed from their unit while he got promoted all the way up to his present rank.

Also lucky are the officers comprising the "naval" component of the Philippine Army (PA) or those on "floating status" for various offenses and indiscretions. Literally, they do nothing all day and their time would be better served by making them sentries in Kalayaan Island. Instead of doing the honorable thing, which is to retire and make way for the younger and more qualified officers, they just report to their holding offices where they sit around all day drinking coffee and plotting how to get into the good graces of the next military leadership and who to hoodwink next for a gasoline slip.

That is why a lot of lowly soldiers do not respect their officers and make a mockery of the chain of command. When ranking officers of the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment were jailed for allegedly withdrawing their support of this administration, now outgoing AFP chief of staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. reacted by ordering the PA headquarters to assign his trusted men from other units to the FSSR, even if they were unqualified and untrained to lead such an elite unit of the AFP Scout Rangers where the troops openly ridicule the incompetence of their officers.

A lot of officers had high hopes about the appointment of former Tarlac congressman Gilbert Teodoro to the defense portfolio. Cabinet revamp or not, it seems Teodoro will be staying in government. Malaca-ñang does not appear willing to displease Teodoro’s political heavyweight uncle, businessman Eduardo Cojuangco Jr. Cojuangco, after all, is a virtual political kingmaker in his own right and can easily torpedo Malacañang’s anointed bet in 2010.