The www.mabuhayradio.com was the first publication – whether online or hardcopy edition – to announce that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (PGMA) would soon undertake a general overhaul of the government, starting with a revamped constitution, by naming retired generals (pun intended) as key government officials – from Cabinet members to diplomats. Now, PGMA wants to send a retired general to become the Filipino envoy to Washington, DC. After all, defenders of PGMA say that the American capital was named after an American general and what better way for the Philippines to honor the legacy of General George Washington than to send a Filipino general to head the Philippine Embassy? Reports say that retired General Eduardo Ermita will soon be named the successor of H.E. Amb. Willy C. Gaa, a career diplomat. Perhaps the top position at the Philippine Embassy will be now called, “Ambassador General,” so as to elevate it into a broad-spectrum or an all-purpose diplomatic position.

Here is the PGMA’s supposed plan of “reinventing” the Philippine military:

QUOTE.

Reinventing the PMA. The P-Con (Perfect Constitution) will also "reinvent" the Philippine military, so as to prevent its officers from launching coups in the future. The POGOs said that the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) would be renamed the "Philippine Governmental and Military Academy" (PGMA), as cadets would have to study more subjects on accounting, auditing, diplomacy, law and the postal system. Because the P-Con would mandate that retired generals fill up the positions of the Auditor General, Consuls General, Solicitor General and Postmaster General. The rationale is to inculcate in the minds of the military brass that there is more to life than the barracks.

UNQUOTE.

Readers may like to read the article in its entirety by going to: Push for Perfect Filipino Constitution Begins July 1, 2007 (posted on April 14, 2007)

The plan now includes the naming of retired generals as Deputy Consuls General, Assistant Solicitor General, Assistant Postmaster General, Assistant Auditor General and all department heads of the General Services.

Of course, Mr. Gaa has been the subject of envy by Filipino politicians and retired military officers. Please read, Is Ambassador Gaa On the Way Out?  (as written by Romeo P. Marquez on June 22, 2007). But then it seemed that public outcry ended the plan to replace Mr. Gaa with a politician.

The MabuhayRadio.com editor, Bobby Reyes, introduced then newly-arrived Consul General Gaa to the 2006 Kalayaan Steering Committee in February 2006, “He (Gaa) is a very honest man who is sent abroad to lie for his country.” Now, perhaps the Philippine government wants lying to be in the general category of a five-star or a four-star rank?

But maybe the idea of naming General Ermita as Philippine ambassador to the United States is a truthful way of telling American policy makers and decision makers that the Philippine government is now becoming more honest. Because PGMA is telling the United States that she has made a general (sic) revamp of her administration? # # #