Soldiers, police real heroes during disasters — Rody
DAVAO CITY – In defense anew of the men in uniform in his administration, President Duterte said the role of the military and police is akin to utility boys who could be counted on to respond immediately to situations and orders.
The President pointed out that, on top of their main task of keeping peace and securing the country, both forces could be relied on to act promptly to emergency situations, especially those involving disasters and calamities.
“You know, the utility boys of our civilization now are the military and the police,” he said the other night during a briefing in Cauayan, Isabela on the crisis situation after the onslaught of Typhoon Rosita.
Military and police personnel, he added, are the ones who could immediately be tapped to help people and communities in crisis.
“They are the utility. You could call on them and say ‘Go there right now.’ The police and military, they have the numbers… They fight and, sometimes, they die,” Duterte reasoned.
As example, he cited the landslide in Naga City in Cebu where members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police were sent to help dig the affected area and find survivors or retrieve those that have died.
“They are the ones who can be ordered to do the massive task of digging on a 24-hour basis… They are the only ones who cannot say no. And they are the ones who could not say we cannot climb that mountain. What do you mean you cannot climb that mountain? You climb that mountain,” he stressed.
Following this, he urged local government units, even those with their own emergency responders and disaster management offices, to also take care of the police and military units in their areas “because they are the utility boys of the government” and the ones who work round-the-clock.
“That’s why you have to say a word or two, good words for the military and the police, whoever is there,” Duterte added.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo defended Duterte’s move to reorganize agencies under the Office of the President, which former National Anti-Poverty Commission chair Liza Maza described as militarizing the government.
Panelo recalled that Duterte also appointed some personalities from the Left earlier in his term.
“In the same vein, the President’s appointment of former uniformed personnel to key Cabinet or subCabinet posts reflects his trust in the military hierarchy known for its high degree of professionalism, discipline and can-do attitude,” he explained.
He added: “These men have sacrificed many hours of their lives, even at the expense of their personal time with their families, for the love of and loyalty to our country; and this patriotic fervor, not to mention their academic credentials and experience in leading and managing large organizations, qualifies them for the posts that they hold.”
Panelo, also the chief presidential legal counsel, reasoned that the move to appoint former military men in Duterte’s administration is not militarization per se, as those appointed are already civilians.
The President’s intent in rationalizing the executive branch through Executive Order 67 is to promote greater efficiency, agency convergence and participatory governance in the delivery of essential public services to all sectors of society, given that they are now transferred to line agencies, he explained.
He slammed Maza who took to social media to air her criticisms against EO 67, wherein some agencies under the supervision of the Office of the President and the Office of the Cabinet Secretary were transferred to other government agencies.
“We find it unfortunate that a former member of the Duterte Cabinet and past National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) lead convenor, Ms. Liza Maza, has a misplaced – if not distorted – view of the reorganization and composition of the Cabinet,” he said.
“Ms. Maza’s appointment to the government, including those identified or allied with the Left, did not make the Cabinet communist or convert the respective offices they headed leftist,” Panelo said in a statement. “Her conclusion, therefore, that placing former military men in executive offices automatically translates to a military juntaled government is completely erroneous.”