|
One of the more intriguing cases handled by the bicameral Commission
on Appointments (CA) in the recently concluded First Regular Session
pertained to the promotion of Lt. Col. Jesus Anquillo of the
Philippine Army to colonel.
There was no derogatory record in the file of
Anquillo submitted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), so
the CA Committee on National Defense headed by Rep. Rodolfo Albano
3rd of Isabela proceeded to hold confirmation hearings. Things
unraveled when the mother of a deceased junior officer of Anquillo
opposed his promotion. The mother said that Anquillo did not lift a
finger when his son fell in a ravine during a military exercise and
died after several hours. Then, she added that her son was a witness
in a malversation case filed against Anquillo.
This last piece of information caught the
interest of CA members, particularly Sen. Dick Gordon. That Anquillo
allowed the witness against him to die in a ravine without calling
for medical help was serious enough. But what was that malversation
case? Didn’t Anquillo’s file say he had no derogatory record?
The CA dug into the files of Anquillo further
and found out that he had been convicted by a general court-martial
of malversing P127,000 meant for the Civilian Armed Forces
Geographical Unit (Cafgu). He was also found guilty by the same
court-martial of conduct prejudicial to the service. Sen. Rodolfo
Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief of staff, immediately saw
something wrong. He pointed out that under the Articles of War, any
officer found guilty of embezzling government funds worth more than
P100 should be sentenced to five years of hard labor and to
automatic dishonorable discharge. Anquillo never underwent hard
labor and was not dishonorably discharged. In fact, he was even
recommended for promotion.
Gordon was incensed that Anquillo’s paper had
ever reached the CA. He wondered how Anquillo’s two convictions
escape notice of the AFP promotions board. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile
suspected a cover-up and charged that the AFP was trying to put a
wool over the eyes of the CA. But why should the AFP or the
Philippine Army try to hide these twin convictions? I got a hint on
the answer in later conversations with Gordon when he became less
condemnatory of Anquillo. Gordon seemed to believe that Anquillo was
just the scapegoat in the case and that an Army general was actually
the one who pocketed the P127,000. Then this must explain why
Anquillo merely got a slap on the wrist by merely being ordered to
restitute the fund and to suffer loss of promotion for two cycles.
No hard labor, no dishonorable discharge. And a promotion after
fulfilling those two conditions.
Gordon, however, remained convinced that
Anquillo was disqualified from getting promoted because of those two
convictions. The CA later rejected his promotion and called for a
review of the AFP promotion system.
Oh yes, here’s a pointer to those who intend
to oppose the promotion of a military officer—never use as your
main reason the officer’s being a womanizer. This is certain to be
ignored, if precedents are to be followed. As one CA member said:
“If we are going to remove all soldiers who are womanizers, there
might be no one left in the AFP.”
Finger-pointing
At the final caucus of the CA in the First
Regular Session, almost two hours was spent debating the promotion
of Col. Arthur Abadilla of the Philippine Air Force to star rank. At
the core of the dispute was whether Abadilla’s nomination was
valid since Malacañang did not issue a new one when he failed to
get the CA nod before the Yule break. (A nomination takes place when
Congress is in session and an ad interim appointment, when Congress
is not in session.)
Malacañang issued a nomination to Abadilla on
Nov. 29, 2007, four days before his 55th birthday on December 2.
Congress went on Yule break without acting on his nomination. The
controversy started when Malacañang did not renew his nomination
when Congress resumed its regular session. Sen. Ping Lacson said
that Malacañang respected the law stating that no military officer,
except the chief of staff, may be promoted if he has less than one
year left before reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56. A
group led by JPE believed that a nomination, unlike an ad interim
appointment, does not lapse with a break in the regular session.
A vote was taken on June 11 at the caucus and
only nine voted for Abadilla’s promotion. He will, therefore,
retire on December 2, 2008, with the rank of colonel. Gordon said
that substantive justice rather than mere technicality should have
prevailed in the case of Abadilla. Some blame Malacañang for the
late decision to nominate him. Others say that Sen. Jamby
Madrigal’s focus on the promotion of Brig. Gen. Nestor Sadiarin
prevented the CA Committee on Defense from looking into Abadilla’s
promotion.
efrendanao2003@yahoo.com
|
