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AFP, DND heads support fixed term for military chief


Top military and defense officials on Wednesday expressed support for a recently passed bill at the House of Representatives seeking to give the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff position a fixed three-year term. Current AFP chief Ricardo David, who will not benefit from the proposal if ever it becomes a law, said a fixed term would give the AFP chief time to prepare and finish his programs for the military. “There is no school for chiefs of staff... Any position in government, I would say, has a learning time. Mas maganda siguro kung mahaba ‘yung [term] ng chief of staff (I think it would be better if the AFP chief will be given a longer term)," he told reporters on Wednesday. David, who will bow out of service on March 8, also agreed with the provision in the approved bill giving the President the power to extend a military chief’s years in service, noting that his own term of office is “limited." David was appointed AFP chief July last year. At present, the President could extend the term of the chief of staff but only to complete the maximum tour of duty of three years and only in times of war or national emergency. “I think the chief of staff should be given more time to be holding that position so long as he has the trust and confidence of the President. Ang hirap kasi if you will be retiring after a shorter term," David said. The House of Representatives passed on Tuesday night House Bill 6, prescribing a fixed three-year term for the AFP chief of staff. The approved measure, authored by former AFP chief and incumbent Muntinlupa Rep. Rodolfo Biazon, likewise gives the President the power to defer the compulsory retirement period of a military chief if it falls within his three-year term, as long as he has the “confidence" of the commander-in-chief. Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin meanwhile said that the fixed term for AFP chief would also ensure accountability and prevent corruption in the military. “Since there is a fixed term, a particular program will be implemented and then, you will see you can pinpoint who the author is if there will be corruption," he said. The AFP has been embroiled in corruption controversies in the past weeks after the revelations made by former AFP finance officer George Rabusa and former state auditor Heidi Mendoza in congressional investigations. Rabusa appeared as a “surprise witness" in a Senate blue ribbon probe last month and revealed the supposed practice in the military of giving payoffs amounting to millions of pesos to retiring AFP chiefs. Mendoza, meanwhile, testified before the House committee on justice how former military comptroller and accused plunderer Carlos Garcia allegedly authorized the transfer of military funds transferred from the Armed Forces’ Land Bank account in San Juan to a questionable bank account in Makati. - KBK, GMA News

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