Defense official decries his sudden dismissal

(Updated 4:44 p.m.) An undersecretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) known as “Mr. Clean" decried on Tuesday his “unceremonious" termination from duty after four decades in government service. Retired Vice-Admiral Ariston delos Reyes, who was terminated as DND undersecretary for internal affairs last week, said he was not informed of the reasons why he was discharged from service. “Wala na, basta d’yan na lang. Sinabi lang na terminated. Ganun yata usual e (I was not informed of the reasons why I was terminated. They just told me I was terminated, and that’s it. Maybe that’s how they usually do it)," he said in an interview. Delos Reyes even requested to serve for three more months to avoid “misinterpretations" that he was terminated due to bad performance and for reports he earlier made regarding the misconduct of two DND officials. His request was not granted by Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza, he said. "He (Mendoza) said it was regretful that he could not do anything about the termination and offered that if I wanted to, I could still continue serving the DND as a consultant. Politely, I thanked him and begged off," he said. No obligation to explain choices Malacanang, for its part, said it does not need to explain President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s decision to terminate delos Reyes’ appointment. Deputy presidential spokesperson Gary Olivar said it is Mrs. Arroyo’s prerogative as chief executive to make changes in her appointments. "It’s not unusual, and, of course the President always has the privilege to change your mind, no matter how late. It’s also the President’s discretion," Olivar said at a press briefing on Tuesday. Olivar cited the case of Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan, who was terminated right after he took his oath as Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) director-general to assume his current post. Olivar likewise said that it is the President’s privilege to choose officials for executive posts, and that she has no obligation to explain her choices. Complaints led to termination? In October 2009, delos Reyes filed a dishonesty complaint against a fellow DND undersecretary who allegedly signed a department order allowing the admission of his own son in the National Defense College of the Philippines. Just this month, he reported illegal possession of a cache of ammunition by a DND assistant secretary. Delos Reyes said he could not ascertain these reports caused his termination. “Hindi ko sinasabing yun ang dahilan. Ang sinasabi ko lang, para bang napakasama ng timing at baka yung iba ay mami- misconstrue na dahil dun sa dalawang bagay na yun kaya ako ay pinaalis (I am not saying that that was the reason. All I am saying is that my termination came at such a bad time and perhaps others might misconstrue that these two reports are the reason why I was terminated from duty)," he said. “With the termination of my duty, the civilian and military personnel who are aware of the aforementioned might find it hard to understand if indeed true and honest-to-goodness reforms in the DND-AFP are ongoing," he added. The 60-year-old Delos Reyes, a member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1971, has been given the moniker “Mr. Clean" in the military for his uprightness. He retired from the service in 2006 and immediately appointed as defense undersecretary. Delos Reyes was earlier involved in the investigation of an anomalous contract for military choppers, which was later scrapped by the DND. — with Andreo C. Calonzo/RJAB Jr./RSJ, GMANews.TV