ON TARGET
A big shame on the AFP
By Ramon TulfoPhilippine Daily Inquirer
The home of Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Gen. Jessie Dellosa, inside Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City was burglarized recently.
Called the “White House,” the AFP chief’s official residence is inside a heavily-guarded compound in the camp where the military’s general headquarters is located.
Pardon the comparison, but isn’t Camp Aguinaldo the counterpart of the Pentagon of the US armed forces?
It’s a big shame on the Armed Forces.
If I were General Dellosa I would be so embarrassed I would file for early retirement.
The burglary in his home, more likely committed by soldiers, shows the lack of discipline within the Armed Forces, which reflects on him, being its chief.
* * *
Burglars carted away cash, jewelry and a laptop from the living quarters of Dellosa’s security aides.
It could have been worse. If the burglars were terrorists, they could have held Dellosa and his family hostage.
Were there no soldiers guarding the compound of the AFP chief’s home?
* * *
I grew up in camps in various parts of the country when my father was an officer of the defunct Philippine Constabulary, a military organization that enforced the law.
My father’s order to the house help was to leave the doors open at night so that soldiers could come in to warn him if the camp was under attack.
In the daytime, the family would leave the house open when my siblings and I went to school and my mom had to go to the market or to shop.
At no time was our house burglarized.
Even when the family was living in Camp Asturias in Jolo province, our house was unguarded since there were already soldiers posted at the camp gates.
Do I hear somebody saying that was when soldiers were more disciplined, but things are different now.
Military discipline should be constant; it doesn’t change with the times.
There should be more discipline in the military now since the
country is at war—with Moro and communist insurgents.
* * *
Some friends called to ask why I didn’t identify the Supreme Court administrative official in Saturday’s column.
These friends said they were told some judges had complained about the brash attitude of this official.
I can’t mention his name until a formal investigation into his activities is underway.
But I can give tidbits of information about him.
He was allegedly instrumental in the appointment of a Manila judge whose reputation as a corrupt magistrate is legendary.
As a judge, he was accused of dismissing all the drug cases of some relatives of a former Supreme Court justice.
The dismissal was publicized about the same time he got promoted to the high court.
* * *
Oscar Cabebe, the security aide at the National Bureau of Investigation who figured in a shootout with an NBI agent, was not at fault and should not be charged.
My sources inside the bureau say the slain agent, Honorato Ocampo, was the aggressor.
Ocampo allegedly tried to force Cabebe to accept a suspect he was turning over to Cabebe without going through the standard procedures, like getting a warrant of arrest and a medical certificate showing the person didn’t have any injuries.
Cabebe, inside sources say, refused to accept the suspect.
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