http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/05/25/news/phils.php
Corruption troubles Philippine military By Carlos H. Conde International Herald Tribune THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2005 <http://www.iht.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?query=MANILA&sort=swishrank> MANILA The signing this week of two agreements aimed at fostering better military and security cooperation between Manila and Beijing was viewed mainly as a display of China's growing power and reach, particularly in Asia. Hardly discussed, however, was the significance to the Philippines of this milestone in the relations between the two countries, in light of what analysts say is its increasing need to reach out to neighbors to professionalize and modernize a military that, these analysts say, is weak and corrupt. The need, they add, goes beyond the country's relationship with the United States, Manila's main defense patron. Manila and Beijing signed agreements on Monday that would allow Filipino soldiers to train in China, provide for the two countries to engage in an annual defense and security dialogue and call for China to provide matériel, such as engineering equipment, to the Philippines' armed forces. Analysts say regional cooperation, like that arranged with China this week, could help reduce corruption, which these experts, as well as legislators and government inquries, identify as a major obstacle to the improvement of the Philippines' military. Corruption is said to be one of the main reasons that the armed forces are ineffective in dealing with both domestic and regional terrorism, and that Manila has troubles protecting its interests in territorial disputes like the one over the Spratly Islands, which Beijing also claims. "The military is clearly unprepared for aggressive island grabs, overfishing or exploration by China," said Zachary Abuza, an expert on terrorism and Southeast Asian security issues at the U.S. Institute of Peace, based in Washington. "There will be little they can do to deter aggressive actions, other than at the diplomatic level." The Philippines' armed forces "has no role to play in the region," he said. "It has almost no navy. Its ability to protect its exclusive economic zones and maritime resources is nil." The challenge now is to convince other countries that the Philippines is serious about addressing the defects. "There is a lot of unhappiness in the region about corruption in the armed forces of the Philippines and the chronic inability of the armed forces to deal with its internal security issues," Abuza said. The Philippines' military is often compared with those of other countries in the region, like Indonesia's, in terms of corruption. But the comparison ends quickly. Unlike Indonesia, which overthrew the Suharto dictatorship only six years ago, the Philippines has been free for almost two decades of its late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos, who virtually made the military his private army. Also, of all the countries in Southeast Asia, the Philippines has been getting the most aid from the United States, which maintained military bases in the country for decades. The conventional wisdom is that, by now, the Philippines' military should have recovered from the damage Marcos did. Instead, the Philippines' military remains fragmented, politicized and corrupt, according to scholars, analysts and government officials. Its hardware is old and inadequate, its troop morale low and its rank and file susceptible to adventurism, as demonstrated by numerous coup attempts since the removal of Marcos in 1986. Congressman Roilo Golez, chairman of the defense committee in the Philippines' House of Representatives, said corruption was a "major problem" that affected the country's ability to counter terrorism and protect its territories. "It traverses many administrations and goes to the highest levels," he said. Corruption has always been a part of the Philippines' military, according to numerous studies and expert assessments. But Marcos institutionalized it, according to these assessments and administrations that followed his. When members of the armed forces removed him from power, they became politicized themselves, appropriating the role of watchdogs and rattling their sabers if they thought the government was not performing well. Analysts blamed the failure of civilian governance for this increasingly messianic mindset in the military. Corruption has been cited as a main factor in military adventurism. In July 2003, when hundreds of soldiers mutinied to demand reforms, they accused their superiors of mismanaging the military retirement fund, causing irregularities in the procurement of supplies, misusing the money that was supposed to modernize the armed forces and selling guns and ammunition to enemies of the state. "Grievances about graft and corruption in the military," said a government report on the mutiny in 2003, "provide a fertile ground for the recruitment of officers and men for military intervention and even the overthrow of government." Kevin Cross, an expert on security issues at Johns Hopkins University in the United States, concluded in a report that corruption in the Philippine military was "perhaps the single most dangerous security threat to the nation." Cross wrote that the selling of supplies to the enemies was "twice as damaging to the armed forces of the Philippines as it depletes its own offensive capability while directly strengthening its adversaries." In the navy, bribery from smugglers and the pilfering of boat fuel are common, according to Antonio Trillanes, a senior naval officer who led an anti-corruption mutiny two years ago. The mutiny failed, and Trillanes and other officers remain in custody. "Many of our officers receive payola from these companies and individuals with interests to protect," said a colonel who was privy to the investigations of some corruption cases involving officers and who asked to remain unidentified because of his involvement in a number of investigations that are ongoing. Recently, several high-ranking officers, two of them generals who used to be comptrollers in the armed forces, were accused of amassing hundreds of millions of pesos in unexplained wealth. Subsequent investigations alleged that these officers had made money through kickbacks and payoffs in the procurement of military supplies and equipment. The officers are now in custody awaiting courts-martial. Officers have also been implicated in irregularities involving the purchase of helmets, pistols, machine guns, uniforms and combat boots. "It is not unusual to find soldiers in the field wearing only flip-flop slippers because of the substandard quality of the supplies," said the colonel, adding that "corruption is a big issue that affects morale on the field." Corruption is particularly worrisome, analysts say, because the Philippines spends a small amount of its gross domestic product on the military - only 1 percent last year, compared with 3 percent for Indonesia, and 5 percent for Brunei and Singapore. The Philippines, considered by Washington as its second front in the war against terror, is the top Asian country - and the fourth in the world - in terms of U.S. military aid. It received $115 million in 2003, up from $38 million in 2001. In 2003, it was the No. 1 beneficiary in Asia of U.S. military training programs. U.S. help has improved the Philippines' capabilities and has led to the capture of several Abu Sayyaf leaders. But gains like these are easily offset by the effects of corruption, Abuza says. Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz said the reform program would allow the armed forces to defeat communists and terrorist groups like Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiyah in 6 to 10 years. "I am confident the military can do it," he told journalists last week, adding that the program aimed to professionalize personnel and improve logistics, operations and intelligence planning. Another goal of the program is to reduce corruption, he said. Ultimately, however, corruption in the armed forces can be minimized only if corruption in the civilian government is minimized, said Golez, the congressman. "Fighting corruption in the military requires a more comprehensive approach by the government against corruption in general," he said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give underprivileged students the materials they need to learn. Bring education to life by funding a specific classroom project. http://us.click.yahoo.com/FHLuJD/_WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
