The Garcia Scandal: Implications for the Arroyo Administration

“With all these things happening... We can say that we are now in a room full of powder kegs: a single spark may cause a big explosion.” – Ex-Navy Captain Danilo Vizmanos

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

These are the problems currently faced by a president whom many Filipinos perceive to have won the recent election through fraud.

What do all these imply for the present administration?

Former Navy Captain Danilo Vizmanos shared his thoughts in an interview with Bulatlat. Vizmanos, former AFP Inspector General and former chair of Selda, an association of former political prisoners, took his MA from the University of the Philippines in the late 1960s. He has also authored a number of books. Below are excerpts from the interview:

The scandal surrounding Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia came just shortly after the Magdalo leaders issued their public apology to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.  Do you think they have now been vindicated for what happened to them after the Oakwood incident?

I am one of those who agree with those who say that the Magdalo leaders should not have apologized.

They apologized for what? What they said was true and they had their positions on the issues they raised, they should have maintained that. Now, if what they apologized for the means of airing their grievances, that was what they felt was the most effective means of doing that, the takeover of Oakwood.

Now what happened in the Garcia scandal is a vindication for them. It would have been so much the better if they didn’t apologize: that would have strengthened clamor for their release. Because what they said had been proven.

So yes, this is a vindication. What the Magdalo said is true.

Early in Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, a military corruption scandal had surfaced, involving an anomaly exposed by Rear Adm. Guillermo Wong of the Philippine Navy. Like him, Trillanes and company who also tried to expose military corruption were punished. Do you think President Macapagal-Arroyo tolerates military corruption?

First of all, Gloria is afraid of the military. She has been afraid of the military as early as when she was a senator. I think that of all Philippine presidents, she is the one whom the military has been able to hold by the neck. So she hasn’t raised her voice even once against military corruption.

The only reason she is floating the idea of court-martial proceedings for General Garcia is that if she doesn’t speak up, the people would think she is part of the scandal.

But just because there will be court-martial proceedings doesn’t mean that the whole truth will come out. As a matter of fact, court-martial proceedings can be used as means to cover up the crime. They could merely come up with scapegoats to be punished, in a way that would contain the issue.

But why do you think the military has a tight hold on President Macapagal-Arroyo?

Well, I’ll just compare her to ex-presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Fidel Ramos.

Marcos, though he was not a full-time military man, had a brief experience in the military service. He fought in the resistance against the Japanese occupation. Ramos was a true-blue military man.

The presidents who had no military experience were Cory Aquino, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria. Now, Cory was directly backed by Edsa I, while Estrada won in a regular election.

Gloria became president on the heels of the Edsa II uprising, but that was because of her position as vice president, hence as constitutional successor, at that time. She knows that she has no real popular mandate, that she is only an accidental president...

Now, we had elections last May which many people perceive to be fraudulent. In fact IBON came out with survey results showing that most Filipinos think Gloria won by cheating.

And Gloria also knows that the military is beholden to the U.S.

Gloria knows all that: the military’s subservience to the U.S. and her being an accidental president. So she can’t raise her voice against the military even if she knows what is happening.

Because of this military scandal, which came just as the country is in the midst of a crisis that is increasingly alienating the government from the people, even some quarters within the ruling coalition are becoming critical. Do you think these are signs that there are now cracks within the party in power?

Of course the opposition would exploit this to further their agenda.

But this expose of military corruption has deep implications for the morale of the troops. I believe there are still many within the Armed Forces who, though they may be involved in human rights violations, resent this kind of corruption. The rank-and-file and the junior officers will do some thinking among themselves, and tell each other: “They make us face death while they in the higher levels are doing that.” That would affect the morale and discipline of the troops.

Do you think Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. was right when he said that the latest expose’ against military corruption could have been initiated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as a result of the falling out between the President and the U.S. government over the pull-out of Filipino troops from Iraq?

I think that’s speculative.

All I know is that the U.S. Immigration and Customs offices unexpectedly discovered something with General Garcia. Now these are government agencies, so that’s what may have caused Pimentel to speculate that the expose’ has something to do with what Gloria did in Iraq.

It’s possible. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re doing a below-the-belt attack on Gloria. We know that the CIA always works below the belt.

This could be bad news for Gloria...

The U.S. maintains a stable of puppets so it can easily replace those who are no longer useful to its interests.

Considering the demoralization that the military is likely to go through with this scandal, coupled with the increasing discontent over the crisis, do you see another popular upheaval in the near future?

It’s a great possibility. With all these things happening... We can say that we are now in a room full of powder kegs: a single spark may cause a big explosion. Bulatlat

BACK TO TOP ■  PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION  ■   COMMENT

© 2004 Bulatlat ■  Alipato Publications

Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.