Meeting between Noynoy, military personnel, a disservice to his candidacy

A former chief of the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary on Wednesday said the "secret meeting" between military officials and Sen. Noynoy Aquino was a "disservice" to the Liberal Party presidential bet. In an interview with GMANews.TV, retired Maj. Gen. Ramon Montaño blamed the people who arranged the meeting between Aquino and the servicemen, most of whom reportedly belonged to the "disgruntled" Philippine Military Academy Class of 1977. Montaño said he did not know who arranged the meeting, but said they were just probably "sumisipsip" (kissing up) to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). "They are just trying to egg on [disagreements among PMA classes]," he said. "It was a disservice to Noynoy himself by bringing these disgruntled elements to talk to him," Montaño said after a press conference at the Metropolitan Club at Rockwell in Makati City. Some members of the said PMA class, including Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, reportedly found it difficult to accept being "bypassed," when President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo earlier appointed to key military posts officials who were their junior — particularly from the PMA Class of 1978. Montaño said he saw no point why Aquino, the candidacy of whom the retired official supported, had to meet with the military officials. [See related: Ex-police, military officers back Noynoy’s bid, call for clean polls] "They [disgruntled servicemen] are not needed for these elections," Montaño said, adding that there were only a "few" disgruntled military officials anyway. He said members of the PMA Class of 1977 should not feel bad over not being appointed to the key posts now newly occupied by members of the PMA Class of 1978, including AFP chief of staff Gen. Delfin Bangit. He expressed doubts that these "bypassed" officials would turn against the government just because of the new appointments. "Some [members of the Class of 1977] are deserving, but they accepted their fates. They are not going to revolt against the chain of command just because they were not promoted," he said. The meeting, which took place in Davao, involved military officials from the PMA Classes of 1977 and 1978, as well as from younger batches, who reportedly tried seeking concessions if Aquino wins and aired their grievances over being bypassed. An anonymous military intelligence official earlier confirmed that the meeting took place, but Aquino — while also confirming the meeting — said it was nothing more than the military officers' expressing of concern in case a failure of elections happens. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV