Inordinate use of political power over the AFP

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vice for reaching the maximum tenure in rank by the second quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the colonel who was in the “freezer” since October 2023 was bestowed with the prestigious Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Cavalier Award for Special Operations during the PMA Alumni Homecoming on February 17. What an irony! He was booted out of his former post, where his sterling accomplishments were heralded and recognized by his alma mater, no less. Is this a fitting reward for these ranking AFP officers? That upon reaching the pinnacles of their military careers and after many years of sacrifice and of putting their lives on the line, they now suffer injustice from those who wield the power to appoint or remove? Shouldn’t they be charged before a military tribunal if they committed an offense or be referred to the AFP Efficiency and Separation Board should their fitness to continue to serve the military be in question?

Sweet surrender?

Could those be among the reasons some high-ranking officers who aspire for or want to remain in their lofty positions in the AFP are beholden to those who walk the corridors of political power? Could these top-level officers “in the freezer” be holding on to their ranks as a matter of principle? Or are they hanging on for lack of better opportunities should they leave the military? Or are they willing to bear the humiliation in exchange for higher retirement benefits that accrue if they reach compulsory retirement age?

That section in Republic Act (RA) 11709, which provides that “officers who have been relieved of their posts and are not designated to or occupying any position in the Table of Organization of the AFP” is deemed compulsorily retired, has been omitted in RA 11939, or the new AFP Retirement Law. This could have saved these officers on “floating status” from agony (although they are free to file their retirement anytime) and benefit the officers waiting for vacancies in the ranks that the former continues to hold. It bears asking: can this not be part of the implementing rules of RA 11939? Well, until orders are issued, they have to labor and wait.

Last week, Philippine Army Corporals Rodel Mobida, Rey Anthony Salvador and Reland Tapinit; Private First Class Arnel Tornito; and Privates James Porras and Michael John Lumingkit — fatalities in the recent firefight against the terrorist Daulah Islamiyah-Maute Group in Munai, Lanao del Norte — have rendezvoused with other colleagues who were summoned for muster by our Creator. The nation holds in the highest esteem these soldiers, and many other airmen, sailors and Marines before them, who have offered the supreme sacrifice by heeding the orders to “charge!” so that we all can leave freely and in peace.

More than lip service in valuing and honoring the sacrifices of the men and women in uniform, our leaders should leave the organization alone and allow it to thrive on its own merits, free from abuse in the exercise of their political power.