Unproffesionalism and corruption

In a paper read at a BAYAN-sponsored forum at the University of the Philippines today, retired Captain Rene Jarque, former chief of the AFP Strategic Research of the AFP�s Office of Strategic and Special Studies, pinpointed the twin problems of the armed forces today: unprofessionalism and corruption. Unprofessionalism refers:

"to those practices that undermine the three elements of the military profession as explained by Samuel Huntington: expertise, responsibility, corporateness. In other words, those decisions and/or actions that result in weakening or destroying the manner with which the soldier can optimally perform his duty within a framework of integrity and camaraderie. Examples are poor leadership, tactical and technical incompetence, favoritism and nepotism, ticket-punching, inexperience or lack of combat experience, promotions and appointments not based on merit but on palakasan and bata-bata, extracting personal services from soldiers and criminal activities such as the blackmarketing scandal in East Timor, human rights abuses or engaging in the drug trade or arms smuggling."

Corruption, according to Jarque, is principally the process of conversion, which he defined as �converting procurements to its cash equivalent�. Jarque writes:

"'if an amount is originally intended for office supplies but is instead spent for construction materials, this amount has to be "converted" so that government accounting and auditing requirements are satisfied' (read: circumvented). In the process of conversion, either from one expense item to another or to outright cash, a certain percentage called the �cost of money� is skimmed off the top which goes to everyone in the signature chain, from the supply requisitioners to the auditors. Rates of 25% or higher are normal but the dealer actually only gets somewhere between 9-16% as the rest goes to approving and auditing authorities in various offices."

Unprofessionalism and corruption sap the morale of the troops. While generals and high-ranking officers live luxuriously in camps through corruption, the bulk of the soldiers suffer ignoble conditions fighting in the field.