AFP's New Chief

Senga takes over as Arroyo's 8th military chief of staff

Luige A. del Puerto Dona Z. Pazzibugan TJ Burgonio
Inquirer News Service

LIEUTENANT GENERAL Generoso Senga, a tough rebel fighter who served as the voice of the military during the ouster of President Joseph Estrada, takes over a restive military today amid demands by rebellious officers for a purge of officials implicated in allegations President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in last year's election.

Senga will replace General Efren Abu, whose retirement as Armed Forces chief of staff was delayed for 21 days by Ms Arroyo as she battled to overcome the worst political crisis of her 4-year-old presidency.

The Army commanding general becomes the eighth military chief of staff to serve Ms Arroyo, a record for a sitting president. A member of Philippine Military Academy Class of 1972, the 55-year-old Senga will be AFP chief for less than a year, retiring on July 21, 2006.

Senga had served as AFP Southern Command chief. As commander of the 6th Infantry Division, he led the campaign against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front that led to the capture of its base at the Buliok Complex in Central Mindanao.

He was also AFP spokesperson during the "people power" revolt against Estrada in 2001.

Senga said in a brief interview on Friday that he would continue Abu's policy of keeping the 130,000-strong AFP "apolitical" in the current political controversy.

"He is a very capable, soft-spoken officer," said a statement issued yesterday by the Southern Luzon Command. "With his character and managerial style, he can unite the Armed Forces."

Taking over as Army chief from Senga on Wednesday is Major General Hermogenes Esperon Jr., chief of the Armed Forces' Special Operations Command.

Esperon is one of several generals whose names cropped up in the "Hello Garci" wiretaps which the opposition says is evidence Ms Arroyo rigged the May 2004 election.

On the eve of the turnover of military command, a group calling itself the Young Officers Union new generation (YOUng) issued a statement warning that Esperon's promotion would "further widen the crack of horizontal division and mistrust" and threatening "to resolve the issue within our level, the rank and file and the sovereign people."

The statement, dated Aug. 14, was faxed to the Inquirer. It was signed by Lieutenant Colonel Arsenio Alcantara, a fictitious name. Alcantara described himself as the spokesperson of the YOUng central command.

Bogus group

Asked for comment, Lieutenant Colonel Buenaventura Pascual, AFP spokesperson, said: "We won't respond to their statement. They're bogus. There is no such group."

Yesterday's statement was YOUng's third since it emerged last month to denounce supposed ills under the Arroyo administration and vowed to bring her down.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, confirmed in an interview with the Inquirer the existence of the group. Biazon said YOUng was composed of active military officers with ties to its predecessor, the YOU.

The YOU provided the backbone of then Colonel Gregorio "Gringo" Honosan's attempted coup in 1989, which Biazon, then the Armed Forces chief of staff, quelled. Around 4,000 soldiers involved in the coup were subsequently given amnesty.

"They share the same ideals," said Biazon, quoting military contacts. He said it was "very, very possible" that the two groups were connected.

In early July, Biazon disclosed that young officers identified with YOU had threatened to go on mass leave to protest the reported involvement of military generals in electoral fraud and their impending promotion.

The accusation was triggered by revelations of wiretapped telephone conversations between Ms Arroyo and former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, which the opposition said showed Ms Arroyo fixed the balloting. Ms Arroyo has adamantly denied manipulating the vote.

Biazon said he managed to persuade the officers to stay on and to relay their concerns to the President and General Abu. Biazon said Abu promised him he would conduct an investigation "discreetly."

Inquiry

It was only on July 20 that Abu announced that he had ordered an inquiry after Lieutenant General Romeo Dominguez, had assailed, shortly after his retirement as AFP Northern Luzon commander, the military leadership for not investigating those involved in last year's alleged election cheating.

But the six-member fact-finding board headed by Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga skirted the issue of whether there was cheating in last year's elections.

Mayuga said the panel would look at any "unprofessional conduct" of any officers during the elections.

The probe also did not focus on the four generals and other officers mentioned in the "Hello Garci" tape, but on all officers and enlisted men involved in the elections.

Mayuga did not set a deadline for their findings.

Aside from Esperon, the officials mentioned in the audio recording were Major General Gabriel Habacon, Brigadier General Francisco Gudani and retired Lieutenant General Roy Kyamko, who now heads an anti-smuggling task force.

Mockery

Calling it a "mockery and an insult" to professional officers, the YOUng said Esperon's appointment smacked of politicking.

"Despite his involvement in last year's massive election fraud, he was not investigated, relieved nor suspended. Worse, the commander in chief even rewarded him with a position most sought by Army men," the group said.

"Is this the kind of professionalism the AFP would like to exemplify to its juniors? Are the Army people that helpless, pathetic and gullible to be easily fooled?" the group said.

The YOUng lamented that while military officials implicated in the Garci tapes were not even given a slap on the wrist, ordinary soldiers were routinely "admonished, relieved and suspended" when they protested.

It cited as examples the cases of Army Colonel Arturo Ortiz and Colonel Ricardo Morales.

Ortiz had aggressively protested the awarding of the Medal of Valor to Army Lt. Col. Noel Buan and Staff Sergeant Leopoldo Diokno and resigned from the 15-man Medal of Valor Board. He said the medal had been "prostituted" and resigned as chief of the AFP Joint Operations Center on June 10.

Morales was sacked as commander of the 404th Infantry Brigade based in Mawab town, Davao del Norte province, for criticizing the controversial resort project for the military on the tourist-famous island of Boracay.

Add insult to injury

"The AFP this coming Aug. 17 will once more mock and add insult to injury to the very foundation of military professionalism if the appointment of General Esperon as the new Army chief is not rescinded," the YOUng said.

"His appointment will be a clear manifestation of the existence of a political mafia within the Armed Forces and will further erode the rank and file's dwindling trust (in) the military leadership," it said.

The group said it would "gladly shut our mouths and stay on the line" if the military leadership responded to questions on the alleged irregularities committed by officials.

"Allowing them to go unpunished and be rewarded for their foolishness will eventually force us to resolve the issue within our level, the rank and file and the sovereign people, whose sentiments are loudly reflected in recent surveys.

"Once again, we appeal to all patriotic soldiers to be more vigilant against Malacañang and its predators and aristocrat cheaters who are trying to hold private strings on us and destroy our professionalism. We should not allow them to perpetuate themselves in power."

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)