Rene's Last Word

There's The Rub : The last word (Rene Jarque's letter)

Conrado de Quiros dequiros@info.com.ph
Inquirer News Service

(Rene Jarque wrote this letter last year. I have changed nothing in it except the paragraphing and a word here and there. It's not for West Pointers alone to heed.)

DEAR fellow West Pointers,

The Armed Forces of the Philippines once again is at a crossroad following the cases of [Major] General (Carlos) Garcia and Colonel (George) Rabusa. How this will play out will determine the seriousness, direction and tempo of eradicating corruption in the military and promoting professionalism in the ranks. We have known the rottenness of the system all along and how the culture in the AFP was not and is not conducive to professional growth and honest conduct. It was never reflective of the Academy's motto, "Duty, Honor, Country."

Some of us gave it a chance, found it unwieldy and incorrigible and left. Some stuck with the system and played it out only to be sucked into the vortex of corruption and unprofessional conduct. At one time when I was at the Department of National Defense, I told General (Narciso) Abaya, "Sir, I am sure that I can fulfill the Duty and Country part of the motto but certainly the Honor part is very difficult to do." I was trying my best to be as professional and as patriotic as I could be, but I could never be honest given the extent of the graft and corruption in the AFP. And that was, I believe, unacceptable to my sense of honor and integrity. Hence, I left.

I have been called many names, reviled and hated by many officers for my intransigent stand against corruption in the Armed Forces ever since I was a lieutenant. I was branded a rebel and an unprofessional officer. I was called a liar in public by a former Chief of Staff. Some of you may have also hated my guts for being so stubborn and for being part of the opposition. I was not and am not being stubborn for the sake of stubbornness. I am stubborn because I believe in the righteousness of the cause. It was and it is the right advocacy, and an honest one. The lives of thousands of soldiers and their families depend on this cause. The future of our country depends on whether this advocacy will win in the end. While many of us turned our eyes away and covered our ears, I believed that someone had to play the "bad guy" to make sure that the message was not lost.

I have a favorite story which we printed in the Army Journal when I was its editor:

A wise old philosopher went to the village to preach the good news. He proclaimed his news loudly but no one would listen. Time passed and he continued to preach even louder but still no one listened. One day, a child asked, "Mister, why are you preaching even louder, don't you see it's pointless? No one is listening." The philosopher replied, "My child, at first I thought I could change them and so preached loudly. But now I am preaching even more loudly so they don't change me."

Yes, we have all been part of the system and by our action or inaction, we have all been party to unprofessional conduct and corruption in the AFP. One way or another, we have taken advantage of the system. You all know your indiscretions as I know mine. There was no choice then, there was no other way if one wanted to survive and pursue a "progressive military career." But if a progressive military career means a regressive character and dishonor, well, many of us found that unacceptable and the only option was to leave the service.

I love being a soldier, being with the men and fighting for our country. But it cannot be at the sacrifice of honor. What is the meaning of fighting for your country when the chain of command consists of thieves and looters, insensitive to the welfare of the soldiers and their poor families? What is the meaning of dying for your country when you know that the government and the politicians are apathetic toward the people and the so-called rebels or terrorists we are killing and even torturing are just protecting their lives and their dignity, when they are just trying to survive? What good is fighting for the country when the rebels are right that this country is governed by a callous elite, an abusive military and a corrupt government?

To me, there never was, there never is, and there never will be honor in killing desperate men--men who have found no other way out of their poverty and suffering but to join the rebels because the leaders they have chosen to lead them and the soldiers who are supposed to fight for them, are not doing their duty. For after all, aren't the soldiers the protectors and defenders of the people?

I appeal to your sense of Duty, Honor, Country in saying that we must do something as a West Point Society, as an association of honorable men. The least we can do is make a public denouncement of the corruption in the Armed Forces and appeal for the reform that has long been needed in the AFP. We should tell General Narciso Abaya, West Point '71, that the right thing to do is the honorable thing. Covering up, spinning stories and whitewashing are not honorable. This entails a great risk especially in our friendships and camaraderie, but we must be comrades blinded by Duty, Honor, Country. Somehow, we have to take a stand and make a choice or live a lie within ourselves as long as we live.

Duty, Honor, Country, my fellow West Pointers.

(Signed) Rene Jarque, Class of 1986.

David's Column

At Large : Gift to a hometown

Rina Jimenez-David
Inquirer News Service

HOMETOWN boys who make good pay back their places of origin in various ways: donating money for scholarships or municipal showcases, bringing in investments that provide jobs for town mates, or enshrining the family name in a church pew or school building.

For businessman Jolly Ting, who made his bundle in what might be euphemistically called the entertainment business, giving back to his hometown of Calapan in the province of Oriental Mindoro, south of Manila, took the form of clean and potable water.

"Before we came in," recalls Calapan Waterworks Corp. general manager Alex Manto, "the water here was just undrinkable. You couldn't drink it, bathe with it or even wash clothes with it." He remembers wondering why an associate who accompanied him on his first visit to Calapan had brought with him an inordinate number of water bottles, until he tried to brush his teeth with the water gushing from the faucet. "I nearly threw up," says Manto. "It tasted salty and reeked of mud."

After years of neglect by the old water utility and the digging of private deep wells, salt water had begun to infiltrate Calapan's groundwater supply, resulting in brackish water flowing from faucets. So high was the salt content that the townsfolk could not even get soap to lather for their baths or laundry. Residents who could afford it bought their water from private water haulers who tapped groundwater aquifers. But whether bought or tapped from the faucets, the quality and safety of the water supply remained doubtful, placing residents' health at risk since even the provincial hospital relied on trucked-in water for its supply.

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INDEED, it's an irony and an injustice that a basic service, such as clean water, should remain inaccessible and expensive for the poor. Studies have shown that the poorest Filipinos pay more for basic services like water than those who are relatively better off. This is because many impoverished communities don't have piped-in water, with families relying on private water haulers who charge more per liter of water without any guarantees on water safety.

Seeking a solution to the dire problem of Calapan's water supply, then Mindoro Gov. Rodolfo Valencia talked with Ting, chair of Jolliville Holdings Inc., to buy the waterworks franchise and rehabilitate the moribund water utility.

Fully aware of the need for a safe water system for his hometown, Ting acquired Calapan Waterworks from the previous owners in 1997. But if he thought his investment in improving the water system would earn him the gratitude of his town mates, Ting had another think coming. As Manto recalls: "We met with opposition from different parties, from city council members to NGOs." Among the more vociferous opposers were the water haulers who had been making quite a profit over the years, while some environmentalists raised alarms about the possible depletion of the groundwater supply with the drilling for new wells. In fact, the utility had to go to court twice to put an end to the continuous harassment of their workers and projects. Most protest actions subsided though after Calapan Waterworks secured a congressional franchise.

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LAST year, with Oriental Mindoro Gov. Arnan Panaligan, who was Calapan mayor at the time Ting bought the waterworks, as guest of honor, Calapan Waterworks inaugurated its second well in Baranagay Tawiran, which with a previous well now supplies the needs of some 2,000 households in 23 barangays. Manto says they were also forced to dig for an entirely new network of pipes since the old ones were too unreliable to ensure the safety of the water supply.

Over the past six years, Calapan Waterworks has invested about P50 million in capital expenditure and infrastructure, mainly because, says Manto, "Mr. Ting insisted he wanted only the best quality." In fact, says the Waterworks GM, "we use Manila Water as our benchmark," ensuring that they use the same technology and materials as the Metro Manila concessionaire. Even more important, Calapan folk are now assured of a supply of safe and clean water, passing all the tests of the Department of Health and the Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD). "This means that we are of the same quality as bottled water!" declares Manto proudly.

Also significant is the fact that even as their water quality has improved tremendously, Calapeños are paying less for their water. Where before water peddlers sold water at P5 per gallon, or an equivalent of P2,000 per cubic meter, the new rate for piped-in water is just P13 per cubic meter!

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ON A VISIT to Calapan over the weekend, we passed by the new wells that now transmit the city's water supply. We found spanking new concrete sheds surrounded by landscaped gardens, with Manto explaining, "We wanted everything to look clean and spotless because we're dealing with water, which is a health product. We need our customers to feel confident about the safety of the water we pipe into our homes."

Indeed, the new wells are a stark contrast to the ones operated by the previous franchise holder, judging from photos hung on Calapan Waterworks offices. The old wells were housed in rusty ramshackle huts, amid muddy surroundings that indeed would not bode well about the quality of the water those wells produced.

Hometown boys who make good may choose to embark on ego- and image-boosting projects that may only make them popular but do little to serve their town mates. Calapan is lucky that one such "son" has chosen instead to channel his goodwill into an investment that took years before it began turning a (modest) profit, but which has produced immeasurable "returns" in terms of improved health and quality of life.