Worst of all, the generals whose names were mentioned in the “Gloriagate tapes” were promoted instead of punished for their involvement, Biazon said yesterday (July 5).
“When they hear that some senior officers had been used as political tools…they are mad,” Biazon said.
Unlike in the past when the military became restive and resorted to coups, the feeling now is one of defeat, according to Biazon. This is because “the prostitution of the military” had become so ingrained that reform had become all but impossible.
Most of the military, he said, wanted to preserve their constitutional role of defending the country against external threats, free from political interference.
COMMENT: The military has every right to be restive. The AFP had been turned into the private army of Ferdinand Marcos during the martial law years, and corruption was institutionalized. The Edsa Revolt of 1986 was spurred by the demand of a young core of officers who called themselves the Reform the Armed Forces Movement. Later, the Young Officers Union issued a similar demand to reform the AFP. After so many years, those reforms have not taken root, apparently.
