Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin is among incumbent government officials who have lined up to seek a meeting with President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.
The meeting will take place at Duterte’s hometown, according to sources.
“Definitely, the meeting would be at his [Duterte] office where the President-elect has been receiving well-wishers and doing press conferences,” a source at the Duterte camp said.
Gazmin, who has full six years as Secretary of National Defense under the Aquino administration, is facing a plunder case filed by a whistleblower before the Office of the Ombudsman for his alleged role together with several military officials in the alleged rigging of the P1.2-billion helicopter deal with a United States-based company.
Gazmin, a former Army chief and chief security aide of President Benigno Aquino III’s mother, has been accused of meddling in the affairs of the Board of Generals, which disgruntled officers refer to as the “Board of Gazmin.”
Gazmin has repreatedly denied meddling in the BOG affairs.
Earlier, Duterte, after announcing that he was considering Southern Luzon Command chief Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya as his Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, issued his first would-be guidance to the military.
“I have ordered to reactivate the Board of Generals,” Duterte said during his first press conference.
Duterte also warned government officials including the military and police not to ask favor from him or seek recommendation from senators, congressmen, governors, among others, just to get promoted.
“Duterte’s context when he ordered the reactivation of the Board of Generals or BOG simply means stop meddling into the affairs of the BOG that selects and recommend deserving senior officers for promotion and designation based on merit. What happened in the last six years is very appalling wherein some defense officials meddle in the promotion and designation of senior officers through the ‘bata-batay system’ and even micromanages some affairs of the AFP,” said a retired police general, one of those who took charge of Duterte’s security since the campaign period.
The BOG is headed by the Chief of Staff as chairman and its members are the Vice Chief of Staff, The Deputy Chief of Staff and the major service commanders such the Army, Navy and Air Force. The body has the sole authority to screen, scrutinize and select from the list of recommended candidates forwarded by the Board of Senior Officers from the major service commands up for promotion.
A shortlist of candidates passes through the office of the Defense Secretary who in turn submitd the list to the President.
“The AFP-BOG has gone through a tumultuous existence in the last 6 years because of the so-called ‘Board of Gazmin’. This is a chapter of the AFP wherein the promotion and designation system is really appalling,” another retired general said.