Lorenzana as equalizer/stabilizer?

A few days after some officials of the Duterte government issued statements that there are already destabilization moves by the opposition and others, Defense Sec. Lorenzana stated that the military and his Department of Defense have not detected any destabilization initiatives or active moves to remove the president from power. This was a sobering statement that put the not-soresponsible government officials and political propagandists in place. Going over the previous positions and statements of Sec. Lorenzana on the Martial law imposition and extension in Mindanao, his sortie into Pag-asa Island and Benham Rise, we see a very level-headed person with conviction and a mind of his own.

Who is Delfin Lorenzana? He is the 36th Secretary of National Defense, a retiredAFP general, a 1973 PMA graduate with an MBA degree from Ateneo with Operations Research as a Major. His further studies are at Harvard for Senior International Leaders, Strategic Studies in Australia National University, and Crisis Management at the U.S. State Department. He had extensive field combat experience for which he received the Legion of Honor, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Service Star, Gold Cross, and the 1986 Revolution Ribbon. He was also responsible for the defense of Malacañang when Estrada supporters attempted to storm the palace.

Lorenzana has recently been quietly in the news because of his professional handling of the Marawi crisis even as he purposely limited his public exposure by letting the president and the generals in the ground take the limelight. He had been very active in linking our armed forces with the ASEAN and Asian counterparts for defense cooperation, and maintaining our defense relations with the U.S. and Japan even as there is an official government pivot to China and Russia. He has the respect of his peers in the ASEAN/ Asian defense community.

Considering the controversies and the consequent divisiveness embroiling the current administration, Secretary Lorenzana is an equalizer and stabilizer for the government. He tempers and equalizes the way out of extreme statements of rabid and fawning Duterte supporters, and stabilizes the official Cabinet sentiments and positions. President Duterte is well-served by men like Lorenzana and it is to his credit that he appointed him as Defense Secretary. Lorenzana's career performance has earned him the admiration and loyalty of his fellow soldiers. His perceived honesty and integrity have garnered the respect and acceptance of civil society and other social grouping; all these plus his agile handling of the current political forces have garnered him a political following which will be beneficial to the country and the Filipino people.

The Lorenzana narrative should put on notice the power groups in the government that there will be moves and directives that may not get the support or endorsement of the Defense Secretary, like martial rule for the rest of the country and moves to a more authoritarian government. The issue of adherence to the "rule of law" will also be a sensitive issue for the Lorenzana supporters and sympathizers which may conflict with legislative shortcuts and extrajudicial killings. Secretary Lorenzana is and willbeatemperingfactorandinfluence in the Duterte government.

On the basis of his Holy Week "tweets" and Facebook entries, it seems that Secretary Lorenzana is a Catholic. And in one of his speeches, he quoted John Maxwell as follows: "Leaders become great not because of their power, but because of their ability to empower others." This certainly speaks well of him as a man and as a human being.

‘Considering the controversies and the consequent divisiveness embroiling the current administration, Secretary Lorenzana is an equalizer

and stabilizer for the government.’