Expressions of support from ordinary people and civil society groups for former state auditor and whistleblower Heidi Mendoza continue to pour in. Whether it is by way of mass actions, community prayers and messages through social networking sites like Facebook, they are unmistakable signs that people believe Mendoza gave a truthful testimony about large scale theft and corruption in the military.
I got an invitation last Saturday to join the mass action led by Fr. Carmelo Diola of the Cebu-based Dilaab Movement. I missed the event due to a previous commitment but I gathered the early morning program for Ms Mendoza at the IT Park in Lahug, Cebu City was a success. Many people who were jogging or sunning around the IT Park enthusiastically joined the activity upon hearing that it was to demonstrate support for Ms Mendoza. A Eucharistic celebration held at the St. Jerome Bible Center in Mabolo at 6 p.m. capped the day’s activities for Heidi, whom Fr. Melo calls “a truth-teller who speaks from the heart”.
Meanwhile, Dilaab Movement executive director Tess Tejero launched a parallel campaign among FB users to change their profile photos with a picture of a lighted candle, a symbol for watchfulness or vigilance.
Heidi’s revelations come like light in the darkness. By virtually lighting a candle, netizens are saying they listen intently to Heidi’s revelations and are keenly watching how government reacts. They want to know why despite tons of evidence of unexplained wealth on the part of former military comptroller Carlos Garcia, special prosecutors want to forge a compromise agreement with Garcia instead of charging him for plunder.
People want a just and speedy resolution to the charges of corruption levelled against the military echelons. We are often told that vigilance is the price of liberty and Heidi has shown us the way.
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Malacañang recently called on members of the Armed Forces to squeal on corrupt military men, like what Lt. Col. Antonio Ramon Lim did during the Senate Blue Ribbon committee hearing last week. Lim served as budget officer under Garcia.
Hot on the heels of the revelations of military whistleblower Lt. Col. George Rabusa about the send off gifts or “pabaon” to former AFP Chiefs of Staff Angelo Reyes (P50 million), Roy Cimatu (P80 million) and Diomedio Villanueva (P160 million), Lim came out and corroborated part of Rabusa’s statements that P160 million was disbursed from military coffers and delivered to Garcia supposedly as “pabaon” for then AFP Chief of Staff Diomedio Villanueva. Lim revealed he prepared and delivered the P160 million in batches to Garcia.
Corruption in the military is oftentimes likened to organized crime by the mafia, a separate or self-ruling organization where the boss sits on top. The Sicilian criminal society group which spread to Italy and the US spawned gangland wars that stand out for violence and deaths but especially for a culture of corruption that invaded societies in and out of government. In the US, the mafia is referred to as National Crime Syndicate whose extortion and gangland deaths in the 1950s triggered legislative hearings that exposed the tentacles of the mob in and out of government.
The mob scenario in the context of the AFP is frightening and I can understand why Heidi Mendoza is very distressed whenever she appears in legislative hearings with Carlos F. Garcia just a spitting distance away.
The question is, despite all resources at its command, why is the government helpless in going after corrupt government officials, in particular those in the military who, per Heidi’s account, helped themselves to government funds as if they owned the money?
One of the answers maybe gleaned from House records on the 2004 legislative hearings on military corruption. The hearing was initiated after Garcia’s wife and two sons were arrested by US immigration authorities for bringing in $100,000 to San Francisco, California in December 2003.
In the course of the legislative hearings conducted by the House committees on defense and banks, then Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Imee Marcos revealed that a group of defense contractors and retired as well as active military officers had put together a P50-million fund to stop ongoing inquiries into the ill-gotten wealth of AFP generals. Marcos said she had “insider information” about these efforts to stop the probe of generals. In a published report that did not provide details, Marcos said a “war chest had been put up in order to bribe and blackmail people into silence.”
Marcos told reporters covering the hearing, “These people have started getting fidgety. They have well-paid people now digging muck against potential key witnesses and even those leading the investigation.”
Now if only Marcos could come forward, and in light of public awareness that Heidi has generated, citizens provide verified information on favored defense contractors and their military contacts
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