By MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA  |
| President Benigno S. Aquino III graces the Testimonial Review and AFP Change of Command Ceremony at the AFP General Headquarters Grandstand, Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo in Quezon City Friday (July 18, 2014). With the President is Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang, the new AFP (left), outgoing AFP Chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista Chief of Staff and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin. (Photo by Gil Nartea/Ryan Lim/Malacanang Photo Bureau) |
Until the AK-47s' brouhahas, some colonels have been telling me that Police Regional Office-3 Director Chief Supt. Raul Petrasanta (Philippine Military Academy 1984) would be the shoo-in, despite bypassing three senior PMA classes 1981, 1982, and 1983 who have still bets for the top police post, after chief PNP Director General Allan Purisima retires on November next year.
“Matibay iyan. Habang mga mistah (classmates) niya M-16 ang dala-dala sa field noong tinyente pa sila, siya payong para kay Kris Aquino noong panahon ni (President) Cory (Aquno),” one quipped.
Political observers have been wide eyed by Petrasanta’s rise to power.
From being the chief of the envied Firearm & Explosive Office in the police national headquarter to being the top honcho of the chosen Police Regional Office-3 based in Pampanga, he is not only the top gun but have a deputy regional director for administration (DRDO) Chief Superintendent (military rank of a star rank) Wendy Rosario, a member of PMA Class 1982 – his town mate in Pangasinan and his senior when he was a plebe and Wendy was a junior or cow (3rd year) at the long grey line at Fort del Pilar, Baguio City.
(You can accessed my Petrasanta's article entitled "The Elusive PNP's Top Post" at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-elusive-chief-pnps-post.html
 |
| Army Chief Lt. General Hernando Iriberri |
In the race for the Army commanding general’s post; Iriberri bypassed Catapang after he replaced him at the 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ramon Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
Why the appointment of Iriberri or Delgadao was scuttled? Was it because Aquino’s approval rating from the Social Weather Station (June 27-30 of +25% only) and Pulse Asia (from 70% in March to 56% in June) plunged from all time low?
Was it because he and his advisers believe that ramming Iriberri (or Petrasanta incase he is still in the race for the PNP's top post) for the top AFP post would be unpopular not only in the military who look for the sacrosanct seniority rule and the masses who would smirk again on the favoritism being practiced by the president?
***
My fear happened after
the Supreme Court (SC) dealt the coup’d’
grace (deadly blow) to the priority development assistance fund (PDAF) or
the infamous pork barrel.
A district engineer
of the Department of Public Works & Highway chose to retire as tension
between him and some surrogates of some congressmen became unbearable.
Why? When the SC
took from the solons the power to identify the projects they want DPWH to
construct in their respective districts, the DE becomes the real power where he
can choose his favorite private contractors instead of the fair haired boys of
the congressmen to work for the project.
“Probably the
contractor chosen by the DE give a bigger S.O.P to the DE than the contractors
under the behest of the congressmen, “a source said.
The SC decision
made the DE and the regional director of the DPWH more powerful than the
congressmen in the division of the “loot”.
“Maging kawawa ang
dating ng mga congressmen. Paano na ang mga indigents, supporters, at mga media
na pumunta sa kanila?,” posed by my source.
(You can read my selected columns at http://mortzortigoza.blogspot.com and articles at Pangasinan News Aro. You can send comments too attotomortz@yahoo.com).
AFP revolving door swings into action
TumugonBurahinBy Ramon Farolan
Easily the most famous door in the land is the one that leads to the office of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) chief of staff. It rotates with increasing regularity once a year to welcome the new occupant and just as he begins to warm his chair, the guessing game as to who will replace him starts immediately. My parish priest, the head of our barangay, and the chief of the local police force, stay at their posts longer than the commander of the 125,000-strong AFP, the organization tasked with the mission to defend the people and to guarantee our territorial integrity. But of the officials just mentioned, none is installed with more pomp, more color and ceremony, than the AFP chief of staff.
Last Friday, in Camp Aguinaldo, in rituals that may have lost some of their luster and meaning because of the frequency of similar events, the 44th, or maybe the 45th, AFP chief was ushered into office as his predecessor bade the troops farewell.
As a reminder for the Filipino people, this is the AFP chief of staff’s longevity record for the last 14 years under two presidents:
President Gloria M. Arroyo:
AFP Chief of Staff Length of service as AFP Chief
Diomedes Villanueva: One year, three months
Roy Cimatu: Four months
Benjamin Defensor: Three months
Dionisio Santiago: Four months
Narciso Abaya: One year, seven months
Efren Abu: Ten months
Generoso Senga: Eleven months
Hermogenes Esperon: One year, ten months
Alexander Yano: One year
Victor Ibrado: Ten months
Delfin Bangit: Three months
President Benigno Aquino III:
Ricardo David: Eight months
Eduardo Oban: Ten months
Jessie Dellosa: Thirteen months
Emmanuel Bautista: One year, six months
Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. (Incumbent) Thirteen months (estimated)
The latest addition to the list is Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr., a classmate of Gen. Emmanuel Bautista. Both are members of PMA class 1981.
An Inquirer story on the new AFP chief cites him as a “climate change buff” who believes that the greatest danger to the country is not the armed threat but “climate change and the disaster it brings.” With the limited resources at his disposal and with only 12 months on the job, he may not be able to do much about the problem. Catapang retires on July 11, 2015, and the gossip now centers on who will succeed him. The line forms to the right.