Much as I would not like to comment on the brouhaha amid the publication in the papers of the grievances of our Senior Officers over the promotion of Colonels Diaz and Malajacan to Brigadier Generals even though they lacked the necessary credentials and thus, literally jumping over the heads of several more senior and deserving officers, my conscience and principles prevented me from turning the other cheek.Although our superiors tried to downplay it, we cannot deny the fact that most of us soldiers in the field are beginning to realize that the direction of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) might be heading again towards the dark ages of Martial law where promotions are based not on merits and achievements but on Patronage politics and Bata-bata system!
I am a junior officer currently assigned in Southern Luzon, the hot bed of the insurgency problem. We are putting our lives on the line for our country so that the Filipino people can live in peace and harmony.
As a soldier, we are trained to follow the constitution, the chain of command, and the duly constituted authority. But the assertion that the military should not engage in politics could only be done in a Utopian society and in the real world it is easier said than done. Whether our superiors will admit it or not, the AFP and PNP are now a higly politicized organizations and will never be the same especially after the EDSA Revolution!
My Mistahs and I believe that it is our duty to convey to our superiors in the AFP and the PNP and to the Filipino people the sentiments of the soldiers in the battlefield.
And to quote the great philosopher, George Santayana, "Those who refused to remember the mistakes of the past are condemned to repeat it."
Capt. Joseph Bernard Salazar, PA (Inf)
2nd Infantry Division, PA
