Lt. Col. Pacquiao’s aide hits back at critics

GENERAL Santos City—An aide of Manny Pacquiao on Saturday took a swipe at those who criticized the boxing icon’s recent appointment as lieutenant colonel in the Army’s Reserve Force.

“Love of country is shown by the willingness to serve and protect the people, not by possession of intellectual arrogance,” said lawyer Franklin Gacal  Jr., Pacquiao’s congressional chief of staff.

Gacal said the critics have forgotten the fact that the appointment was not actually a promotion for Pacquiao, who was previously a sergeant, but was prompted by the provisions of Republic Act 7077, which says that elected and appointed officials can be commissioned into the reserve force based on existing military rules and regulations.

Under the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ circular issued on July 5, 2010, a congressman can be granted a rank of lieutenant colonel in the reserved force, he said.

“It is not promotion, technically,” Gacal said in a text message to the Inquirer.

Clarita Carlos, former president of the National Defense College of the Philippines, had questioned Pacquiao’s appointment as lieutenant colonel because he was not a college graduate.

She said Pacquiao was not qualified to be appointed as such because of lack of a degree.

Other critics said they were wondering what would happen if Pacquiao was given the task of a battalion commander. Others were even more blunt —it would be a disaster to trust soldiers’ lives in the hands of Pacquiao.

“They look down on him because he came from a poor family and he has not finished a college degree,” Gacal said. Aquiles Z. Zonio, Inquirer Mindanao