‘NSC employees’ blackball academic from high intel post
Retired Maj. Gen. Nestor Herico, newly appointed deputy director general of the National Security Council, was the commandant of the Philippine Marines before leaving the service. He was designated in place of academic Rommel Banlaoi. (Photo from the Facebook account of the Philippine Marine Corps)
MANILA, Philippines — Retired Marine Maj. Gen. Nestor Herico has been designated as deputy director general of the National Security Council (NSC), in place of scholar and academic Rommel Banlaoi, the nominee of National Security Adviser Clarita Carlos.
Herico’s appointment papers were signed by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on Aug. 10. He left the military service as commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps on July 13.
Banlaoi’s nomination was earlier protested by a group identifying themselves as “NSC employees” who claimed he was a “seller of information.”
In an unsigned letter addressed to President Marcos on July 14, they contested Banlaoi’s possible designation, along with five others, due to their alleged lack of qualifications.
They said that in 2013, former National Security Adviser Cesar Garcia ordered National Intelligence Coordinating Agency director general Trifonio Salazar “to validate information that Banlaoi was receiving funds from the Chinese government.”
He was also “considered a security risk … even up until present.”
In a separate memo in 2010, then Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin told the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff “to exercise extreme caution when [Banlaoi] approaches AFP units under the guise of being a consultant of this department.”
The letter of complaint from the supposed NSC employees apparently reached Marcos.
Balance interests
“[The president] wants to balance the interests of the civilian and the military. I will be replaced by a retired military general,” Banlaoi told the Inquirer on Wednesday.
He added that he was also aware of the Department of National Defense (DND) and NSA memos although he said he did not find them “derogatory” and he was never called for an investigation.
“It only demonstrates that they are doing their job,” he said.
Banlaoi clarified, however, that he did not have access to intelligence information as he also expressed willingness to coordinate with authorities.
“I generate my own information because I visit the ground. I’m an investigative researcher and it just happens that the information I get are labeled as classified by the intelligence community,” he said.
He said the photos of Panatag Shoal attributed to him in a news report in 2013 were open-sourced and downloaded from the internet and he likewise denied misrepresenting himself as a consultant for the DND.
As for his supposed Chinese connections, he explained that as scholars, they work with several academic institutions, including those from Beijing, where most think tanks were funded by the government.
Banlaoi said he did not harbor any ill feelings following the controversy, adding that he would continue his work as chair of the Philippine Institute for Peace, Violence and Terrorism Research.
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