Naming of AFP officials to civilian posts ‘not blanket practice’

The appointment of military officials to civilian government posts will not be a policy or a “blanket practice" of the Aquino administration, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Thursday, adding that such appointments would be on a case to case basis. “Let’s try to put it in a proper context. General (Ricardo) David is competent – he performed credibly as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Not all generals who have retired were given appointments by this administration," he said at a press briefing in Malacañang. President Benigno Aquino III had appointed David as head of the Bureau of Immigration a day after the former AFP chief of staff retired from the military service. “Certainly, we look at each individual based on their own competence, based on the integrity, based on how they performed in their positions as members of the Armed Forces. [There’s no] blanket practice [here]. We certainly will view this in a case to case basis," Lacierda explained. He added that Aquino should not be compared to his predecessor, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “There is no comparison," he said. Several top officials in the AFP were given civilian posts after their retirement during the time of Mrs. Arroyo. Among them were former AFP vice chief of staff Eduardo Ermita who served as executive secretary. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and the late Angelo Reyes, both former AFP chiefs, handled several high government positions, and four Cabinet-level posts in the case of Reyes. Retired AFP chiefs Alexander Yano, Roy Cimatu, and Generoso Senga, meanwhile, were given diplomatic posts, while Dionisio Santiago was named chief of the Bureau of Corrections upon retirement before being assigned to lead the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Former AFP chief Diomedio Villanueva, who was also embroiled in recent congressional inquires on the military fund mess along with Cimatu, was named as Postmaster General during the Arroyo administration. Asked if he thinks newly appointed AFP chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. deserves a government post when he retires in December this year, Lacierda said the military official’s performance will determine that. “Let’s give him nine months to perform first and we’ll see. But we have every confidence in the ability of General Oban to perform and to do what he promised to do – to set out the reforms, to make sure that the abuses in the military will be eradicated," he said. —Amita O. Legaspi/JV, GMA News