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Sunday, May 25, 2003
AFP chief orders lifestyle check on PMAers
By Harley Palangchao with Cheryl G. Cruz
ARMED Forces chief of staff Gen. Narciso Abaya imposed on Saturday a lifestyle check among cadets of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), saying that frugality should be properly observed.
But he failed to specifically mention if the same belt-tightening measure would also be applied to high-ranking officers of the AFP.
He, however, claimed that he has "constantly articulated on the need for the AFP to rationalize the distribution and ensure the judicious utilization of resources...(which) should include tightening of belts and reducing expenditures in favor of mission-essential activities."
Abaya also directed PMA authorities to "downscale" ceremonies being attended by cadets, particularly the silent drill, so that the premier military institution could "channel cadet energies to more productive undertakings...to make the training more attuned to the demands on the new officer after graduation."
"The silent drill has lost its uniqueness and mystique. The question of relevance finds corroboration in the fact that many of the cadets who failed their academics were invariably members of the silent drill company. We cannot go on sticking to conventions, as the problems we face require new paradigms and thinking `out of the box,'" he told cadets during the incorporation Saturday of the 277 plebes into the Corp of Upperclass cadets of PMA.
Abaya, who hails from Ilocos Sur, said that apart from "downscaling of ceremonials, I would like PMA to help in developing modest living, frugality and wise spending in the cadets," noting that with the cadets' pay and allowances, and the convenience offered by consignees and other nice-to-have offers, "it has become so easy for cadets to get their hands into just about anything, including diver's watches, company jackets and athletic shoes."
The government spends at least P2-million each cadet for his or her four-year stay in the academy. One cadet receives at least P14,000 a month gross allowance pay.
"(As such), our cadets must be made to appreciate the value of their money. They must be trained to be prudent and responsible resource managers to prepare them for the time when they shall be entrusted with taxpayer's money; that they may be ready to face the challenges when funds are low but demands are high," Abaya stressed.
Meanwhile, the AFP chief said that "one factor that has been identified as contributory to cadet attrition is the excessive activities of the cadets that slash precious time that could otherwise be devoted towards more relevant endeavors."
He added he was greatly concerned over the alarming number of cadets who were recommended for separation, discharge or turn back. "This fact assumes a more distressing tenor for me as chief of staff, because the shortage of company grade officers, particularly in the army, is a major concern of our field commanders.
"Thus, I was happy to receive the report of your superintendent (MGen. Edilberto Adan) that the class of 2007 only had a two percent attrition rate after summer camp. I am hopeful that this trend will continue and will hold true even for the upperclassmen," he said.
Abaya, on the other hand, reiterated his call for the cadet corps to once and for all reject maltreatment as a means of instilling discipline and called on the upperclassmen to use the power to help shape their subordinates "firmly and maturely, but never resort to physical harm."
"Physical maltreatment will only make you hate and scorn, leading to further harm and hurt and perpetuating an unhealthy cycle for molding leaders for our armed forces," he said. "The effective officer is the one who has earned respect through leadership, and not fear nor coercion.
Late last year, two former PMA upperclassmen were sentenced to a maximum prison term of 12 years each after a local court found them guilty of maltreating a plebe, resulting to the latter's death."
The conviction, handed down by Regional Trial Court Branch 6 Judge Ruben Ayson, was considered a first in the history of PMA."
(May 25, 2003 issue)
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