Calls for President Arroyo’s resignation resounded yesterday in the halls of the Senate following a dire warning aired by Marined commandant Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino on the probability of the military elements breaking away from the chain of command that will lead to a bloody civil strife, owing to the issue of Mrs. Arroyo’s reported bribery of elected officials in the millions while withholding the combat pay of soldiers.
Also reacting to Dolorfino’s statements on the need for the officers and men of the Armed Forces of the Philippines to “stay neutral and professional” and to strongly adhere to the chain of command despite the reported bribery by the President to congressmen and local executives in Malacañang who were each given from P200,000 to P500,000, the detained officers in Tanay, in a statement sent through a text message to the Tribune, said while they agree that the officers and men should stay neutral and professional, they also stated that “it’s not professionalism and neutrality when your chief-of-staff cheats in elections and in the process drag the AFP in partisan politics.”
The detained officers were obviously referring to Esperon’s alleged involvement in the rigging of the 2004 presidential elections, where he was the task force officer for clean polls, but where the he and his men were mentioned in the tape as having cheated to make Mrs. Arroyo win.
Earlier, in another statement issued to the media, the same set of officers challenged Esperon to “tell the truth” on the “Hello, Garci” wiretap scandal. Esperon laughed it off and dared the detained generals, former Marines commandant General Miranda and former Scout Ranger chief, Gen. Danilo Lim’s group to bare the truth on their plot to grab power last Februray 2006.
The same set of officers and men detained in Tanay also took umbrage at Dolorfino’s claim that while the bribery issue may affect the soldiers, it is their professionalism that will reign over their personal interests.
They had very strong words for Dolorfino, as their text message stated: “Speak for yourself, you sycophant general. It hardly affects you because you’ve got it so good enjoying all the prerequisites dispensed by an illegitimate leadership bereft of moral scruples which perpetuates itself through bribery and corrupting others. You’ve got it made all for your blind loyalty and myopic sense of professionalism. If pervasive corruption and the stark truth don’t bother you, the soldiers are deeply affected by them. Tell that to the Marines who are in harm’s way in Sulu and Basilan who have been promised a pittance increase in their combat pay. No funds for them but Malacañang can afford to give to any congressman, governor and other local officials half a million pesos each.”
On Dolorfino’s talk against military adventurism, they had this to say: “ It’s not adventurism to stand up and be counted for the side of the truth. It is serious duty for those who are not blinded by other considerations especially self aggrandizement.”
Senators are convinced that the possibility of civil war erupting in the country, should there be a break in the military’s chain of command to oust the present leader, is not remote.
“The government must provide a credible and logical explanation to all these issues otherwise, God forbid, the prophesy of General Dolorfino, could come to pass. This is definitely disturbing,” Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, yesterday said.
Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, obviously alarmed by such statements issued by Dolorfino called on Mrs. Arroyo to seriously consider the option of resigning now and spare the country another round of political turmoil.
Pimentel said the “official” is hemorrhaging the entire country and obviously, Mrs. Arroyo is unable to stop it.
“Her misgovernance pushes the government on brink of national upheaval. She should resign and turn over the government to Vice President (Noli) De Castro as caretaker until 2010,” he said.
Pangilinan offered the same solution, saying this could only be the end to all the growing tension created by the alleged payoffs in the Palace when Mrs. Arroyo met with almost 200 congressmen and a number of other governors, municipal and city mayors.
“We have a Constitution that states that if a President resigns or is removed by impeachment, the constitutional successor is the Vice President. This talk of civil war or what can be called a ‘political stalemate’ has a solution—which is her resignation and have the constitutional successor take over,” Pangilinan said.
“Resignation is still available, to avert a civil war, if it is true that the cause of all this talk of civil war is due to the developments regarding the allegations of corruption and the moral bankruptcy of our political situation and leadership,” he added.
He pointed out that we have sunk so low in public accountability in the last 20 years, since the restoration of democracy.
The majority leader urged Mrs. Arroyo to order the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) to conduct an investigation and prove before the public in coming out clean in the charges of purported money changing hands right inside Malacañang.
Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said Dolorfino’s claims about soldiers being affected by the present issues raised against the government, specifically the issue of bribery while the soldiers continue to hunger for promised benefits such as the payment of their combat pay which could lead to the possibility of a civil war breaking out, are seriously disturbing.
“The public is confused about government pronouncements explaining this issue of bribery in government, the soldiers too are confused,” he said.
“First, there was an announcement that there was no cash gift until admissions from the recipients became public that they received cash gifts. The government shifted to another explanation saying that the funds that were distributed are not public but private funds and therefore should not require the stringent rules governing the distribution and expenditure of the people’s taxes.
“Then there was a pronouncement by no less than the AFP Chief of Staff that the delay in the payment of the soldier’s combat pay is caused by the lack of funds.
“But now, General Dolorfino is saying that there are funds available in the AFP and the only thing delaying the payment of the combat pay is the lack of guidelines,” Biazon said.
Malacañang, however, rejected the call of senators for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation, stating that she has been elected to rule until 2010.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye also brushed aside the warnings of a civil war, saying that the AFP is “loyal to its commander in chief and the AFP will adhere to the chain of command as far as mandate is concerned and the President has a mandate to serve up to 2010.”
The Palace also yesterday warned disgruntled elements within the military that any coup attempt is doomed to fail because the majority in the AFP remain solidly behind Mrs. Arroyo even in the midst of the controversies her administration is enmeshed in.
“We believe that majority of the men and women of the AFP follow the chain of command and will follow their commander-in-chief,” he said.