Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, guest speaker at the monthly General Membership meeting of FINEX last week, addressed the issues of the insurgency and management of the military.

For the first, his prescription is a mixed “soft-hard” approach to arguably the longest-running case of armed insurgency in Southeast Asia of the communist rebels.

Though no longer at the dreadful number of 250,000 strong at the onset of the strongman Marcos Martial Law regime, the insurgency remains a pesky item in the Military that devours a substantial part of its budget and attention. It is also a dark blot on the white sheet of military success in the horrid sense that it is still alive in the rural areas.

The “soft” part is winning the hearts of the rebellious over to mainstream society through livelihood, medical and engineering know how that the soldiers can use in the community where the rebels are strong. The battle is often for winning the heart and mind of people into the straight path.

The prime example of this success story is the province of Bohol which (in the mid-80’s) was the headquarters of the dissident movement after Negros Occidental governor Bitay Lacson drove them away from his province through “Operation Thunderbolt.” The “soft” approach won many rebels over the side of government while the reluctant half went into the mountains bordering the provinces
of Leyte and Samar.

Before that, the Bohol provincial commander of the military was ambushed and the governor was almost assassinated near his own Capitol. Today, there is relative peace and quiet in the province
although extrajudicial killings and curious disappearances make the headline stories, still.

The “hard” part apparently refers to rearming and re-tooling the fire-fighting capabilities of the Armed Forces which, Teodoro noted, “under-invested” in this area for many years in the past. This is a fact despite the existence of the Special Purpose Funds of the DND of about P5-billion every year under the AFP Modernization Program.

MILITARY REFORMS

On the second issue, the 43-year old DND chief spoke of the values of leadership by example and instituting strict reforms in running the often controversial defense beat. A pilot by training but a pure civilian, Teodoro is credited to having unified the major headships of the air force, police, armed forces and the navy behind his leadership.

Teodoro assured FINEX that his office had thrown the book at a number of military officers and men for graft and violation of laws including a general (name withheld) who is currently under house arrest for graft (not Gen. Garcia).

He said they have plugged the loopholes in the procurement process of the AFP since the supply industry for arms is quite limited in number. Also, a few years ago, a number of retired professionals took a deep cut in their salaries (compared to the private sector counterparts) to become part of the AFP “reform movement” as civilian officers, especially those involving finance – during the wake of Nonong Cruz as DND chief.

FINEX member Jun Ibay, former president of AFPSLAI was able to elicit a positive response from the DND chief when he was asked about the merits of the country’s bid for self-reliance in the manufacture of war materials and the privatization of prime assets of the Military including the large expensive piece of real estate near the Veterans Hospital.

In fact it seems that this 2009, selling off the 8 hectare North Bonifacio area and 35 hectare JUSMAG property is expected to fetch P2.8 Billion for the government coffers.

2010 DARK HORSE

Teodoro, bar-topnotcher and three-term congressman of Tarlac is slowlyemerging as the “Dark Horse” of the administration with the impending merger within 45 days of Lakas and Kampi, the two most dominant political parties today.

Administration leaders had cited "competence" and "loyalty" as the basic criteria to emblazon the chest of whoever their presidential bet will be in 2010. These two factors place Teodoro the proverbial prohibitive choice for the highest plum over vice president Noli de Castro, the only other "mathematically viable" (based on surveys) possible candidate of the administration.

The DND Top Honcho was Assistant Majority Leader of the 11th Congress and member of the powerful LEDAC (Executive Legislative Liaison)and has now the distinct advantage of steering one of the best-funded if controversial agency of Government - the Department of National Defense. That gives him legislative and executive experience.

VP De Castro was a TV-radio broadcaster before he became senator and teamed up with GMA in 2004 to become vice president in an election, charged by his rival senator Loren Legarda as marked with fraud.

Urbane, sophisticated, pedigreed (Cojuangco clan) and well-educated, Teodoro is an excellent speaker in English, Tagalog and Ilocano. De Castro is known for his down to earth hoi polloi language that endeared him to the masses through the years. Independent observers think, however, that Teodoro is better prepared for the presidency than De Castro.

THE PRESIDENT’S MAN

Moreover, while VP De Castro has been coy about his plans and is politically neither here nor there, Teodoro has been unabashedly loyal to the president and will seek her endorsement and undergo the political process to claim the nomination. Teodoro had quit his uncle's (Danding Cojunagco) party (NPC) (Nationalist Populist Coalition), in the process.

Such loyalty is deemed "critical" to President GMA who is expecting legal and political "rough waters" once her term ends in 2010 and would like to see a "friendly" occupant at the Palace. For Kampi Rep. Rodolfo Albano III of Isabela, he feels that Teodoro's chances become more enhanced once his name is included in the surveys and becomes the lone administration candidate versus a multitude of possible Opposition presidentiables.

One thing certain is that Teodoro will have a political asset a'la Imelda (for Ferdinand) in beauteous Rep. Nikki Prieto-Teodoro (wife) who is as glamorous as Imelda. Will she dance the Cha-cha with Teodoro on stage or sing "Dahil Sa Yo" or "Matud Nila" – with the confidence of an Imeldific?

Only the stars can tell what destiny awaits the fair-haired boy of the DND.