Galvez Tells Execs Who Filed Courtesy Resignations: Stay Put

Newly designated Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. has asked senior officials who filed courtesy resignations in the aftermath of change of command in the military on Saturday, Jan. 7, to stay put as he intends to lead a solid “One Defense Team.”

Department of National Defense spokesman Arsenio Andolong revealed that Galvez, during transition briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Tuesday, Jan. 10, enjoined all members of the executive committee and heads of bureaus under the DND to “stay in place.”

During the preliminary discussions, Andolong said a formal report was presented to Galvez, which included a 10-point agenda initiated by Jose Faustino Jr., who re-signed as DND officer-in-charge last Friday, Jan. 6.

“We will sustain the gains of the past secretaries and will also further enhance the capability of our national defense,” Galvez was quoted by Andolong as having said during the meeting with the DND’s senior officials, bureau chiefs and execom members.

Faustino’s resignation following the reappointment of Gen. Andres Centino as Armed Forces chief of staff appeared to have triggered the submission of courtesy resignations of eight other co-terminus DND officials – four undersecretaries and four assistant secretaries.

However, Andolong reiterated during a press briefing at Camp Aguinaldo on Wednesday, Jan. 11, that such courtesy resignations are part of normal practice when a new DND chief takes over, so that the new boss would have a free hand in choosing members of his team.

Asked by The Philippine STAR if those told to stay in place include the co-terminus officials who formed part of Faustino’s team, Andolong replied: “Yes.”

Joining him at the press briefing, Undersecretary Angelito de Leon, who handles the DND’s capability assessment and development, confirmed that Galvez had rejected the courtesy resignations and assured that the DND “is intact.”

Speaking partly in Filipino, De Leon said: “I want to stress for everyone’s understanding that a courtesy resignation is a customary process... This is nothing extraordinary even in other agencies, moreso with the One Defense Team; because for us, we value tradition. So that’s normal.”

“Now, it is incumbent upon the newly designated head of agency to either accept or reject (a courtesy resignation). In the case of Secretary Galvez, while we are ready with our courtesy resignations in accordance with custom, he immediately gave the order: ‘Everybody stays put.’ And hence, nobody would resign or get out of DND,” he added.

Andolong said the incoming defense secretary, during the preliminary briefings, also emphasized the importance of employee morale in the DND and professionalism in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in order to maintain the trust and confidence of the Filipino people.

Before proceeding to Camp Aguinaldo last Tuesday, Galvez met in private with Faustino, who briefed him on the different accomplishments of the DND, along with his recommendations to ensure continuity.

Although not fully explaining his reason for abruptly quitting his post, Faustino was vocal about being kept in the dark regarding Centino’s reappointment as chief of staff, which he claimed to have learned about only through news and social media.

Centino, on his second tour of duty as AFP chief, had his first meeting with top DND and military officials at yesterday’s traditional New Year’s call, which Galvez was unable to attend.

At the media briefing that followed, De Leon said Faustino’s resignation was not discussed and that despite the past weekend’s rumors of rumbling and destabilization within the AFP, the military’s morale remains high.

“It was not discussed, because precisely, there is nothing irregular,” De Leon said when asked about the controversy that cropped up with Faustino’s resignation a day before Centino was sworn in.

He stressed that it is “the prerogative of the Commander-in-Chief to designate not only the Chief of Staff but, of course, the key officials of the AFP and the DND civilian bureaus.”

On swirling rumors of rumbling within the military establishment, De Leon replied: “Let me give my assessment based on the turnout in this morning’s traditional joint DND New Year’s call. All the key commanders were there, including the key staff officers of the AFP and the DND civilian bureaus.”

“So I think there is no issue on the morale. The morale remains high. We are focused on our mandate,” he added.

De Leon recalled Tuesday’s meeting with Galvez, during which the new secretary emphasized that he wants to hit the ground running and focus on his and President Marcos’ visits to disaster-stricken areas in Northern Mindanao and the military’s field units.

He said Galvez was briefed on the DND’s 10-point defense agenda and had ordered everyone to stay at their posts and continue focusing on their jobs.

“What’s important here is we move forward and we address the mandate of the defense department,” he said.

“The message of Sec. Galvez is that the One Defense Team should remain united and should pursue and focus on its mandate.”

Asked to clarify if there was dissatisfaction over the replacement of Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro as AFP chief of staff, who many expected to serve a fixed three-year term under a newly passed law, the DND official said: “The AFP has expressedly manifested in a press release that there is no destabilization.”

De Leon then announced that they will proceed with the scheduled AFP-DND Command Conference at Camp Aguinaldo today, Jan. 12.

Fixed terms

In a related development, the Senate is “hell-bent” on passing the bill amending Republic Act No. 11709, the law that fixes the terms of top officials of the uniformed services to three years, but which has apparently been the source of disgruntlement in the military.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri revealed yesterday that Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, who chairs the committee on national defense and security, has filed a bill to correct the law that contracts coverage of the fixed terms handed to a few star-ranked officers while consequently preventing the promotion of junior officers.

“We’re looking at passing this first quarter of this year,” Zubiri, speaking partly in Filipino, told the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Bay media forum.

“I think the amendments will help in ensuring stability in our military establishments. Junior officers will no longer be resentful because only one position will be extended for three years, everyone else will have to go through the seniority process,” he added.

He said the original bill that emanated from the Senate in the 18th Congress, authored by then senator Panfilo Lacson, covered only the AFP chief of staff.

He was surprised that more generals were included in the list of those to be granted fixed terms during the bicameral conference committee deliberations – a mechanism to reconcile conflicting provisions of versions of a same bill from the Senate and House of Representatives – before it was signed into law last May by then-president Rodrigo Duterte.

The law included commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy; the unified commands; vice chief of staff, deputy chief of staff and inspector general.

“Our initial understanding then in the last Congress, the 18th Congress, was this was only for the chief of staff… You have to remember, if we implement that, there will be so many colonels, even generals (who) cannot anymore assume positions. No promotions. So definitely there will be problems,” Zubiri said.

“So we are now hell bent on amending the law.”?He said Estrada’s committee has already formed a technical working group for the bill as other senators have filed their own amendments.

Zubiri said he personally favors only the chief of staff to have a fixed term.

He also said the chamber will speed up deliberations and the passage of the bill setting up a new military pension fund that would be sustainable and not prone to corruption so as not to further cause the hemorrhage of national coffers.

Zubiri said the budget allocated to pay for the pensions of military retirees is now bigger than the funding for salaries of active duty personnel.

OPAPRU

Meanwhile, the men and women of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace, Reconciliation and Unity (OPAPRU) congratulated their boss, Galvez, for his appointment as DND chief.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the OPAPRU said: “We are happy that he will be taking on a job that is also close to his heart, having served as a military officer for more than 30 years.”

“We believe that his tenure as peace adviser has prepared him for the post of defense secretary, as the peace-building work he has carried out will guide him, as he leads the DND in ensuring the nation’s peace and security,” the statement read. – With Paolo Romero, Jose Rodel Clapano