|
By Anthony Vargas, Reporter
THE Armed Forces (AFP) brushed
off on Thursday the latest Pulse Asia Survey report, saying that the
AFP chief of staff, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., is among the
country’s most distrusted personalities.
The AFP Public Information chief,
Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, said that the survey results, which gave
Esperon a 41-percent distrust rating, do not reflect the sentiments
of the soldiers.
“The Chief of Staff enjoys the
trust and confidence of the soldiers. Never has the AFP been this
strong,” Bacarro told reporters at a briefing in Camp Aguinaldo.
“It’s just a survey and it
does not affect us,” Bacarro said, adding that soldiers’ trust
on the military chief has remained high.
He said that the level of trust,
which the AFP personnel gives to Esperon, is so strong it had
discouraged attempts to sow intrigue within the military
organization.
“We are all aware of the number
of efforts to destroy the image of the AFP, the number of
disinformation efforts to cause divisiveness, and they have
continued to fail,” Bacarro said.
The Pulse Asia Survey released on
Wednesday said that 41% of Filipinos don’t trust Esperon, who has
been linked to alleged cheating during the May 2004 Election, which
President Arroyo won.
Bacarro said that the result of
the survey has not distracted Esperon from performing his duty.
Likewise, he questioned the propriety of including the military
chief, who is not a politician, in the said study, where President
Arroyo and former President Fidel Ramos also got similar distrust
ratings.
Esperon is one of four senior
military officials mentioned in the controversial “Hello, Garci”
wiretapping scandal.
|
