Random thoughts on military culture By Primer Pagunuran It is timely to write on what the Philippine military culture closely resembles on the ground – in real than in reel. It is so because the new batch of military officers have just graduated today from the Philippine Military Academy and no less than the President summons that the Honor Code System made to apply from within and outside of the halls of the institution. So much has been written about the controversial cadet who spilt the beans, as if it were, crying wolf about his case through the acts of his sister or father or anyone else like a patronizing media organization or group. He was dismissed from the cadet corps just when he is slated to graduate Top 2 of the graduating class for violation of the Honor Code which is the system in place from Day 1 of every a cadet or cadette’s life. There were a phenomenally constant and continuing waves of comments on Tweeter, on Facebook, and in social media expressing worldviews – for or against – Cadet Cudia and his cadet’s picture and cause have gathered adherents, believers, and self-minded advocates if not new ideologues. Even the intervention of Public Attorney has been summoned to Cudia’s case that it seems to elevate up to the Supreme Court to decide on an issue far from the province of lawyers, judges, or more so Supreme Court justices to divine higher wisdom on. The fate of a single PMA cadet, who in all likelihood, committed a violation of the Honor Code System is not the fate of the nation. Neither is it the fate of the entire military establishment to which all ‘cultures’ will all subsume and find place. And speaking of culture or subculture if one may call it that, the so-called “mistah system” perpetuated by those officers who come from the Philippine Military Academy, sadly stating, is the culprit of all the ills and problems that have long found place in military life. And to some extent, it cascaded to national life when these military elites entered the domain of politics to become the new emerging political elites. Military elite studies tell us that this phenomenon is not at all unique to the Philippine military. And perhaps, only then President Ferdinand Marcos could be said to be its top endorser, as if it were, and not without good reasons. So former military officers get appointed to the civil service and in key cabinet positions and under Marcos, this has seen the flourishing of their breed. No wonder then, even ambassadors or diplomats are best recruited from the military at the time. What Foreign Service Officers are we even talking about here? The case of Cadet Cudia is just the tip of the iceberg if one really as much as goes to analyze what ails the military establishment. There are long-embedded problems created as a result of the ‘mistah culture’ and it is time to document them now through some evidence-based approaches. It has deeply infected and infested the Philippine Army, the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Navy, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine National Police. Do a survey of military officers other than those who were produced by the Philippine Military Academy and we may see how big the iceberg really is. That is a challenge I want to pose in this little humble note. Care to do something more than celebrate the case of a single cadet whose cause we may all mistakenly embrace blindly and utter lack of deeper understanding.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 11:05:51 +0000
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