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Admiral not going away quietly
MANILA, Philippines—Rear Adm. Feliciano Angue will not go quietly.
Angue, who has whipped up a controversy over his reassignment, Tuesday said he would turn over his post as commander of the Armed Forces National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) and assume his new post as ordered, but that he would not stop his public griping.
He said politicking by senior officers close to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin had cost him his promotion to three-star rank.
But AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Ricardo David denied this to reporters and challenged Angue to name names.
Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon warned that Angue’s apparent demotion, along with similar cases, had triggered “rumblings” in the military that could undermine its stability.
Angue said he had prepared a “simple but meaningful” turnover to Maj. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, like himself a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1978, in the NCRCom conference room at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
“I wanted it at 6 a.m. but he asked to move it at 7 a.m. So I will adjust the briefing. I should be out by 8:01 a.m.,” Angue told reporters in his NCRCom office, which he has cleared save for a huge aquarium with corals and exotic fish.
He said that another PMA classmate, Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, would preside over the turnover, and that he had done away with the traditional troop parade.
Angue, who had earlier claimed knowledge of attempts by certain ranking military officers to rig the 2004 presidential election, also said he received only on Monday the formal order to report back to the Navy.
He said he would go on leave for a couple of weeks before he assumes his new post as commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao based in Zamboanga City.
“They gave me an order. Though I feel bad about it, I will follow [it],” he said.
Professionalism
If he were promoted to three-star rank, Angue would have been a contender for the post of Navy chief because the acting flag officer in command, Rear Adm. Danilo Cortez, is scheduled to retire in January.
“They are reserving the slot for somebody else,” he said.
Angue said the military promotions system had been disregarded to accommodate certain senior military officers close to Gazmin.
He named Maj. Gen. Gaudencio Pangilinan and Brig. Gen. Romulo Bambao, the current chiefs of the AFP Northern Luzon Command and of the Intelligence Service of the AFP, respectively. Both are members of PMA Class 1979.
Angue also questioned the relief of his classmates, Maj. Gen. Mario Chan as commander of the Army 4th Infantry Division and Rear Adm. Emmanuel Martir as deputy chief of staff for intelligence (J-2).
“My issue is not just about promotions, but professionalism,” he said. “We should not rely on political connections. We should be insulated from politics. Some are asking for help from politicians.”
Angue was appointed NCRCom commander on March 13, which is covered by the period of the constitutional ban on “midnight” appointments.
He belongs to the PMA class of which former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is an honorary member, and whose other members led by former AFP Chief of Staff Delfin Bangit cornered key posts in the military.
He has accused officers whom he did not name of unfairly lumping him with those of his PMA classmates who took advantage of their ties with Arroyo to get plum posts.
Angue was put “under investigation” by the AFP leadership on Monday, after he complained publicly that he had been demoted because his new post carried only a two-star rank.
Humiliation
He told his assembled troops during the flag-raising ceremony at the NCRCom compound in Camp Aguinaldo that he had been humiliated. But he said he would follow orders.
According to Angue, he should have been given a post that carries a three-star rank because his current post as NCRCom chief carries such a rank.
“In my 32 years as an officer of the AFP, this is the first time that I would be a witness to the humiliation of demotion of a flag rank or a general officer. Demotion is a severe punishment given only to erring enlisted personnel who have committed grave offenses. Why do this to me, and what wrong have I done?” Angue railed on Monday.
A military spokesperson said Angue’s statements were “bordering on insubordination and violation of the AFP Code of Ethics,” which prohibits military personnel from airing their grievances through the trimedia and “destroying the image of the AFP.”
Last week, Angue received a written order from General David telling him to stop airing his grievances before the media.
Any lower ranking officer behaving thus would have been immediately detained and tried by court-martial.
‘No politicking’
Speaking with reporters after attending the Senate committee on national defense’s organizational hearing on Tuesday, David said Angue should identify the military officers purportedly involved in partisan political activities.
“There is no politicking,” David said. “If Admiral Angue can pinpoint any officer who is politicking, then he should say so and not generalize. He should name names ... He cannot drag the whole Armed Forces [into the mess].”
Earlier at the hearing, committee chair Sen. Francis Escudero quizzed David about Angue’s complaint, but said his committee would await the official action of the AFP “if at all we will enter the picture.”
“I will give you first crack insofar as addressing this issue is concerned before your Senate gets into the picture and looks into the matter by an inquiry in aid of legislation,” Escudero told Defense Secretary Gazmin and military officers led by David.
Angue may end up being “admonished, reprimanded” depending on the outcome of the planned investigation by the Navy leadership, David said.
“His statements are unprofessional ... unbecoming of a soldier,” David said. “I don’t know why Admiral Angue, having attained that rank, is going to the media. This is unprofessional conduct, unethical in our organization.”
David ruled out the possibility of demoralization within the ranks of the military, as indicated by Angue’s statements.
“The Armed Forces is a solid organization,” he said. “I think [the soldiers] are not demoralized. I tell you that they are not demoralized.”
David also denied that Angue had been demoted: “He was not demoted. He is a two-star [officer] and he was not promoted. There was no recommendation to promote him.
“He should be gentleman enough to accept the resolution of the Board of Generals and the appointment of the President.”
Inquiry into compliance
Biazon, chair of the House defense committee, is seeking an inquiry into whether laws and procedures were complied with in the selection of officers for promotion and reassignment.
“There are rumblings, and I don’t know if President Aquino is aware of these,” the former AFP chief of staff and defense secretary told reporters at a briefing.
“We should not have these repeated situations, or questions or promotions or assignments on major positions, because they can only produce instability in the AFP, such as what we are witnessing today,” he said.
Biazon, who also chairs the Philippine Military Academy Alumni Association Inc., declined to say the extent of the purported “rumblings” in the military.
“Let’s just hope these are just rumblings. We have to address them. We can’t ignore them,” he said, but cautioned the public against interpreting the issue as a clash of PMA classes.
The lawmaker pointed out that Republic Act No. 291 and the military’s Standard Operating Procedure No. 10 governed the selection of military officers for promotion or assignment.
He said the planned inquiry would establish if these were being fully complied with, and if these were sufficient.
According to Biazon, RA 291 provides for the creation of a Board of Generals and a Board of Promotion to tackle the promotions of generals and lower-ranking officers, and SOP 10 spells out the criteria for promotion and assignment to major positions.
He wondered if the list of those recommended for promotion and reassignment made by the Board of Generals and Board of Promotion was being forwarded to Mr. Aquino, the Commander in Chief.
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