Effects of Corruption in the Military

It is surprising to hear from the news forthwith that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (alpha fetoprotein) tops the list of the inelegants almost corrupt organizations. It seems give c ar gone were the days when the Philippine topic Police (PNP) hugs the limelight as the most rotten egg on the lot. With the catamenia line of reasoning hugging the provinces Armed Forces, the amount that the PNPs Euro Generals took with them in their travels looked like virtually loose transmute as compared to those amassed by the AFP comptrollers and agent chiefs of module. regular the Bureau of Internal taxation and the Bureau of Customs, whose names apply to be synonymous to graft and corruption, seemed to concord faded in the background to give fashion to the AFPs moment. They are talking ab step to the fore hundreds of millions here, and that is non unless the sum of money amount. More names develop stock- quieten to be named. More funds have yet to be accounted for. And as the pen says, it is alarming that the people exactly preceptort seem to care. besides how and why would they? Is corruption a new field in this country? Is this the first magazine a government agency got snarled in a corruption sleep with?Former Presidents Marcos, Aquino, Ramos and Erap had had their times under the limelight. Even those presidents before them were, and people were so touch back then, thus the birth of EDSA 1, 2 and 3 and the numerous rallies and coup attempts in the past. Then GMA entered the scene and brought with her the Hello Garci scandal, the plant food scam, the ZTE Fiasco. The list went on and on. And nonhing was persistent, and the causation economist for a president was not charged with anything, and she went on to serve (if thats a fitting term) for a full, hanker nine eld.Now is it a revere if people just dont give a damn? If they just choose to go on with their own make loves and continue earning a living amidst the dramatic charg et of Reyes suicide and all the brouhaha of the senate hearing? It is probably because they have already got utilize to the idea that corruption happens in this country as often as a child is being born all three minutes in the world. And condescension the numerous hearings in the senate, nothing had been resolved so far. People are supply up with the regular news on how taxpayers money got squandered by those in the government.Protests in EDSA, at one time, became a fad. Now it seemed to have lost its symbols too. transpose and corruption became a daily staple fiber for the Philippine people, thanks to the media that focuses on any(prenominal)s free for the day. Reports and investigations go on for a a few(prenominal) days, until an some other subject overshadows it and pushes it under the rug. As such, corruption in the sol buy the farmrs is not a ramp for the Filipinos, but just an addition to the nap of dirt being hurled around each now and then. Unlike the rest o f the country, however, the controversy surrounding the AFP saddens me.I had unendingly been fascinated with the men in uniform. I wanted to join them, but my efflorescence didnt permit me to. I even wanted to marry a soldier, ( soundly, I got a chance, but it just didnt work out). Seeing the organization I so admired all these years being torn to pieces by media whores and grandstanding famished politicians makes me cringe. It is because having worked close to these people made me image their plights, their hardships, their devotednesss, and their professionalism (or at least those that I worked fast with). unless the reports of corruption in the military should not be downplayed either, nor should it be buried together with former Chief of module and DND Secretary Angelo Reyes, who killed himself bonding the bullying of dickens senators an underclass and a son of a former president whom he chose to go on the so-called EDSA 2. Corruption in the AFP should not be a sympath y case now that a body lies cold and lifeless indoors a coffin. (Considering the forgiving attitude of the Filipino people, this is not far from happening).It should not pointless the grieving wife too, considering how she enjoys living in a lavish house which whirl expenses came, as the allegations say, from the AFP funds, which could have been used instead to increase the foot soldiers risk of infection pays. The issue should be given a close scrutiny, an investigation that is unbiased, objective, fair, and as much as possible, far from the publics eyes. Some people argue that Reyes has yet to be convicted at the time of his conclusion, and thus, should not be labeled a whitlow but instead a zep considering what he did for the country during in his lifetime. simply as the saying goes, a gm good deeds can be overshadowed by a single offense act. And in that locations no locoweed if theres no fire. there are material proofs that exist, which, however I try to think of ot her possibilities on how they acquired those I really could not look an answer. An OFWs salary is modal value high than that of a general, yet very few could afford to send their wives to travel abroad, so how could Mrs. Reyes get to the US and back several(prenominal) times in a month and even accompanied by a comptrollers wife and other friends?How could she afford to shop for properties in the States with merely 40 or 50 thousand pesos a month and some grants as her husbands sorb home pay? Or is it the allowance that matters more and not the salary? But uncovering the truth behind these things is out of my business and is beyond my capability. I am but a mere watchman to this drama that profit-oriented TV stations embrace in me. But this does not squiffy that I could not feel the demoralizations of the bring low ranking enlisted personnel in the fields.Because there they are, patrolling the fields in search of the enemies on foot with heavy backpacks containing the pro visions for the representation on their backs, or at the sea patrolling the waters in pitch dimness aboard an outdated craft, or flying in planes dubbed as widow makers. The hundreds of millions in pesos told to have been amassed by these generals could have ameliorate the provisions for the soldiers on patrol, or could have bought the Navy a decent sea vessel, or could have been used to barter for a new aircraft instead of the prevalent junks from the US that the Air Force ordinarily acquire. They have the lack of funds as the usual excuse.Sad indeed. Prior to cleanup himself, Reyes said that he did not shape corruption that he just walked into it. What a statement from a supposedly adroit man Even an elementary school-age child would shake its head and say, how come he did not do anything to change it when he got the power and the capabilities to do so? But it is too late to ask him for hes already dead. But Reyes death did not solve anything (unless all of his collea gues and counterparts would follow suit). It only made the people swallow up for a while. After all the ceremonies at the wake, the tears that were shed, and all the intricacies of his burial, the issue still emains unsolved the soldiers in the field are still struggling, the AFPs equipment and facilities are still dilapidated. And Reyes family, and that of Ligots, and of Garcias, and all the comptrollers, budget officers, generals and chiefs of staff involved in the corruption, still live lavishly and comfortably inside their stylish homes and mansions, here and overseas. And Reyes was buried at the Libingan ng Mga Bayani. Such a farce, a big farce. Although I am not a fan of the current president, I am keeping my hopes high in his defend against corruption.I wish, I ardently do, that he would be able to curb corruptions in the AFP. If that would happen, he would reignite the fire of devotion in the lower-ranking soldiers hearts, as well as those whose idealism did not die as th ey reached the mainstream. But until the day comes that the AFP could punish those that trampled its name, it will remain the way it is today, an organization looking so corpse and brave at the outside, but is in truth crumbling inside caused by relentless gnawing by the greedy and gluttonous few. In the end, it is the nation that is at the losing end.