Gazmin gets support from Feliciano Commission member

A member of the commission that discouraged the appointment of retired military officials as head of the Department of National Defense (DND) made a turnaround Sunday as he heaped praises to current Defense chief Voltaire Gazmin, a retired Army chief. “Personally, if you ask me, Gazmin is a good choice for the position. The previous administration destroyed the military. We need to put back basic discipline and values and Gazmin is a good person for that," said retired Navy commodore Rex Robles. Robles was a member of the Feliciano Commission that was formed in 2003 by then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to look into the circumstances that led into the infamous July 27, 2003 Oakwood Mutiny. One of the commission’s recommendations was the appointment of a DND secretary who didn’t come from the ranks of the military — a reiteration of the recommendation of the Davide Commission that looked into the failed military coups against the administration of President Corazon Aquino in the 80s. “Although military officers acquire a civilian status upon retirement, they are likely to bring the rigidity of hierarchy, seniority, camaraderie and other aspects of the military culture into the office of the SND (secretary of national defense) that would obstruct reform," the commission said in its recommendation. Old boys network “We have our reasons, to make briefly, to avoid it from going to the old boys network in the military," Robles said in justifying their recommendation. He, however, said that he is treating Gazmin’s appointment by President Benigno Aquino III as a “special case," as he stressed the apparent need to restore the Armed Forces back to its former glory. “You know our institutions were weakened and one of the severely weakened institutions is the military, not in terms of operations but also in intelligence," Robles said. “He (Gazmin) is a strict disciplinarian and if he has some (weakness), it will not affect the general thrust to bring that (basic discipline and values) back." Gazmin had served as commander of the Presidential Security Group during the time of Mrs. Aquino. He had also served as commander of the Southern Luzon Command and Army chief, the last post he held before retiring in 2000. A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1968, Gazmin served as ambassador to Cambodia from 2002 to 2004. - KBK, GMANews.TV