About-face
About-face
Updated 03:22am (Mla time) Oct 14, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A12 of the October 14, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BETTER late than never. The decision of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) finally to court martial Major General Carlos F. Garcia for fraud against the government and conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman is a welcome one. There is still some wiggle room left for the AFP, however, as its spokesman has mentioned the possibility that Garcia's scheduled retirement on Nov. 18 would make him a civilian, putting him beyond the jurisdiction of military justice.
While we welcome the AFP's decision to try Garcia, we question why it took so long for authorities to decide to place him on the Bureau of Immigration’s hold-departure list. This is particularly puzzling since Garcia is believed to hold a green card, or permanent US residency status, and his sons are studying in the United States, not to mention the property he and his family own overseas and their bulging foreign bank accounts. Hold-departure orders are routinely issued in many other cases, and it would seem sensible to consider Garcia a high risk for flight. While the Bureau of Immigration says US authorities deny that Garcia has a green card, that wouldn't have prevented Garcia from claiming he had one and thus escaping from the country.
For now, as the net tightens around Garcia, it might be a good idea to post guards at the door of Garcia's suite in the University of Santo Tomas hospital. The military already seemed surprised that he wasn't in the Camp Aguinaldo general headquarters when it ordered him confined to quarters pending court martial. And while he certainly cannot be accused of undue extravagance in deciding to stay in that particular hospital, we wonder why he is only now being confined for apnea and why he didn't decide to stay at the Veterans Medical Center. Sleep apnea is an increasingly common yet curious ailment that seems to afflict the criminally charged (recall that former congressman Mark Jimenez claimed to suffer from it), and may simply be a way of justifying the isolation of a person from prying eyes.
Indeed, Garcia has made himself very scarce to the point of avoiding even the chance to confront his accusers or give his side regarding the very serious accusations leveled against him. His avoidance has included refusing to honor an invitation from Congress, which is ironic considering that Garcia surely remembers the time when military "invitations" were something no one could refuse. He has displayed what he perhaps views as a withering contempt for the accusations against him, although other things could be said of his not wanting to say anything in his own defense. While silence as an admission of guilt is only for the sensationally inclined, we do wonder why he hasn't bothered to speak out in his own defense.
In response to Garcia's silence, every Tom, Dick and congressman (and senator, too), in our typically loquacious republic, has decided to do the speaking -- and media hogging. Everyone and anyone, it seems, is now in the know when it comes to the Garcia case. Somewhere down the line, some busybody is going to speak out of turn and leak something damaging to the case. Talk is now so fast and free that the politicians have even raised the bogey of coup attempts as the military's response to Garcia's prosecution.
Raising the specter of military adventurism as a response to Garcia being charged is reckless and imprudent behavior. It is reckless because it adds political color to a case that every right-minded Filipino, regardless of political leanings, should be concerned about. It is imprudent because it insults the military. Everyone knows there is corruption in the officer corps (and surely within the ranks of enlisted men and women, too), but to say the military is poised to lash out because a general has been charged with crimes paints the entire AFP as solely concerned with guarding the fruits of some officers' corruption.
Who would move to try to topple the state in defense of a general accused of corruption? Other generals in danger of being charged with the same thing? And would this mean all generals, and below them, other officers and their troops, who might presumably be nervous due to their complicity in corruption?
This is too much. Even if officers were foolhardy enough to try to cause trouble, no one would follow them. This is the worst time to try anything: The military has no moral ascendancy at this time. It can't even pretend to have any at this point.
Updated 03:22am (Mla time) Oct 14, 2004
Inquirer News Service
Editor's Note: Published on page A12 of the October 14, 2004 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
BETTER late than never. The decision of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) finally to court martial Major General Carlos F. Garcia for fraud against the government and conduct unbecoming of an officer and a gentleman is a welcome one. There is still some wiggle room left for the AFP, however, as its spokesman has mentioned the possibility that Garcia's scheduled retirement on Nov. 18 would make him a civilian, putting him beyond the jurisdiction of military justice.
While we welcome the AFP's decision to try Garcia, we question why it took so long for authorities to decide to place him on the Bureau of Immigration’s hold-departure list. This is particularly puzzling since Garcia is believed to hold a green card, or permanent US residency status, and his sons are studying in the United States, not to mention the property he and his family own overseas and their bulging foreign bank accounts. Hold-departure orders are routinely issued in many other cases, and it would seem sensible to consider Garcia a high risk for flight. While the Bureau of Immigration says US authorities deny that Garcia has a green card, that wouldn't have prevented Garcia from claiming he had one and thus escaping from the country.
For now, as the net tightens around Garcia, it might be a good idea to post guards at the door of Garcia's suite in the University of Santo Tomas hospital. The military already seemed surprised that he wasn't in the Camp Aguinaldo general headquarters when it ordered him confined to quarters pending court martial. And while he certainly cannot be accused of undue extravagance in deciding to stay in that particular hospital, we wonder why he is only now being confined for apnea and why he didn't decide to stay at the Veterans Medical Center. Sleep apnea is an increasingly common yet curious ailment that seems to afflict the criminally charged (recall that former congressman Mark Jimenez claimed to suffer from it), and may simply be a way of justifying the isolation of a person from prying eyes.
Indeed, Garcia has made himself very scarce to the point of avoiding even the chance to confront his accusers or give his side regarding the very serious accusations leveled against him. His avoidance has included refusing to honor an invitation from Congress, which is ironic considering that Garcia surely remembers the time when military "invitations" were something no one could refuse. He has displayed what he perhaps views as a withering contempt for the accusations against him, although other things could be said of his not wanting to say anything in his own defense. While silence as an admission of guilt is only for the sensationally inclined, we do wonder why he hasn't bothered to speak out in his own defense.
In response to Garcia's silence, every Tom, Dick and congressman (and senator, too), in our typically loquacious republic, has decided to do the speaking -- and media hogging. Everyone and anyone, it seems, is now in the know when it comes to the Garcia case. Somewhere down the line, some busybody is going to speak out of turn and leak something damaging to the case. Talk is now so fast and free that the politicians have even raised the bogey of coup attempts as the military's response to Garcia's prosecution.
Raising the specter of military adventurism as a response to Garcia being charged is reckless and imprudent behavior. It is reckless because it adds political color to a case that every right-minded Filipino, regardless of political leanings, should be concerned about. It is imprudent because it insults the military. Everyone knows there is corruption in the officer corps (and surely within the ranks of enlisted men and women, too), but to say the military is poised to lash out because a general has been charged with crimes paints the entire AFP as solely concerned with guarding the fruits of some officers' corruption.
Who would move to try to topple the state in defense of a general accused of corruption? Other generals in danger of being charged with the same thing? And would this mean all generals, and below them, other officers and their troops, who might presumably be nervous due to their complicity in corruption?
This is too much. Even if officers were foolhardy enough to try to cause trouble, no one would follow them. This is the worst time to try anything: The military has no moral ascendancy at this time. It can't even pretend to have any at this point.
posted by Dante at 3:22 AM
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