“In the end, it was the military establishment that lent its strength and its firepower to the discontented citizenry that sought to drive Marcos from his seat of power.”
by Ducky Paredes
The mark of a great leader is that he goes when his time is up, he would easily give up his position because, as a man of competence, he would have accomplished all that he had set up to accomplish and there would be no unfinished work that would still need doing.
Among the evils of the Martial Law regime of the late Dictator Ferdinand Marcos was the fact that a lot of his generals were overstaying. Because their terms were extended beyond their terms, there was, as it were, a logjam at the mouth of the river where the logs would have exited. In the case of the Armed Forces under Marcos, the younger officers had no chance to make their stars since most of the generals just stayed on and on and on.
In the end, it was the military establishment that lent its strength and its firepower to the discontented citizenry that sought to drive Marcos from his seat of power.
Now, we hear this from the current Chief of Staff who should be retiring in the first week for February:
“If I will be given another chance, in the form of extension, then I will be honored to become again a part of the time in these times that we need a call to urgency, especially so that we have achieved a momentum against the communist party and the New People’s Army. I’d just be honored to lead the team again but I must repeat, that is the call of the President, knowing fully well that in the Armed Forces, we have very competent and capable officers that can succeed me anytime.”
The way I look at it, if there are “very competent and capable officers that can succeed” General Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. “anytime,” then they should. As the Chief of Staff, it ought to make him proud that he had officers who were “capable and competent” enough to take over from him. In the same way that fathers are proud that their sons can take over the family business, so should a Chief of Staff bask in the glory of his junior officers’ competency.
Esperon’s talk of momentum is a lot of hogwash. If he is a competent Chief of Staff, he should not have any problem leaving the post to his juniors who would inherit the position. On the other hand, should he be extended, this shows that he was incompetent as far as preparing those who were next in rank to take over from him. If he were competent, why did he not make siure that these was someone who could take over his job?
A military that needs to extend its officers cannot be composed of the best and the brightest. If it were, then, any number of persons ought to be able to take over the top position and even do a better job of it than the outgoing Chief.
I do not know if the fear is well founded that the extension of Esperon in his present post will destabilize the military. But, why would this be needed if we actually had a competent military and not one that runs on politics and by currying favors from the appointing power? A competent military structure would not countenance any extensions. A competent military would consider such a thing as an insult to its values and its traditions.
If Esperon is extended and if the military establishment meekly accepts this abomination, that would only prove that – militarily, at least — we must be located somewhere in the vicinity of the armpit of the world!
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The quiet and low-key Philippine Airlines president Jaime J. Bautista is on the cover of Orient Aviation magazine as its “Person of the Year” for 2007. This is in recognition of his central role in leading the flag carrier to a financial and operational turnaround last year.
PAL had a banner year in 2007, when it declared its largest-ever profit of $140.3 million (for the 2006-2007 fiscal year). PAL emerged in peak form from an eight-year stint in receivership and garnered several industry awards for its performance. Orient Aviation, a respected, Hong Kong-based publication widely acknowledged as the “bible” of Asia-Pacific aviation, cited Jimmy’s vision and determination in lifting PAL out of receivership and into sustained profitability. The magazine noted: “Bautista, more than anyone else, has been central to the cause. (He) has been very much at the heart of PAL’s amazing turnaround.”
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Wow! For the first time, we had an awards night for the movie folk – The 33rd Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) Awards Night — that started on time, took just an hour — sixty minutes — to finish and which was enjoyed and appreciated by all, both audience and participants. It started precisely at eight in the evening and was over by nine!
The credit must go to the MMDA boss- Chairman Bayani Fernando who is the ultimate organization man and who likes to stick to schedules and hates delays.
Now, if only all such awards nights could get to be as organized and punctual.
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Tomorrow is the 8th Domingo Guevara, Sr. Cup at the Wack Wack Golf and Country Club. The children of the late industrialist have been holding this yearly tournament in memory of their father primarily for Wack Wack members with a few selected invited guests.
His children — Nonoy, Rey, Boy, Chita, Celia, Bobby, Benjie and Ricky – will host the tournament.
For a golfer like their old man was, there is no greater honor than to be remembered yearly with a golf tournament at the golf course that he loved so much when he was still actively playing the game.
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hvp 01.07.08)
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