of exams, corruption, and generals

i was in the midst of wracking my brain just to come up with decent answers for my exam when i received this text from eyva

"uy pare, co ung maj gen barbieto sa news n may corruption case? Nkta ko lng ung ticker tape sa ch7. c barbie ba un?"

so i googled his name and saw this news item from inquirer.net "Major General Barbieto and the Ombudsman"

MANILA, Philippines - Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman or dered the suspension of Maj. Gen. Jose T. Barbieto, commanding general of the 4th Infantry Division based in Camp Edilberto Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City. Barbieto, along with a non-commissioned officer, Staff Sgt. Roseller Echepare, were suspended for six months pending the investigation of a complaint filed by army officers. The complaint alleged that the general and his sergeant extorted money from applicants desiring to enlist in the Army without undergoing the regular examination procedures. Payments of P25,000 to P30,000 were demanded with Echepare allegedly serving as the collector for Barbieto. Incidentally, the Army recently announced that it is recruiting 3,000 new soldiers this year in line with the plan to create six additional battalions.....At one time, he headed the AFP delegation to the Mutual Defense Board meeting in Honolulu, Hawaii."

So i texted eyva and said, syet! sya nga!

MGEN BARBIETO or Barbie as we call him is one of our bosses back when I was still working for the AFP. He was Deputy J5 when MGEN GARCIA (yes, the controversial general who also faced corruption charges) was J5. So you see, im not new with bosses whom i see in the news because of corruption charges.

I could not remember how i felt exactly when i learned about MGEN GARCIA's case. I remember though that we were supposed to have a meeting on that day wherein he was supposed to be the Chairman. The attendees were all generals and because he didnt show up, my immediate boss, who was a mere Major, chaired the meeting. Astig!

Anyway, I remember that we were all shocked upon learning about it. I think it was a Navy officer who told us about it and so I ran to the library to look for THE news clipping. And i felt goosebumps because I didnt know that he would be capable of doing such thing. Yeah, we hear about corrupt officials in the news everyday but I didnt expect that I would be working closely with one of them.

And learning this latest news about some official I know who is actually facing corruption charges is quite frustrating. Its a shame that he is facing corruption charges but the actual nature of his charges is what makes it more frustrating. I mean, what on earth is he thinking asking peniless soldier wannabes for thousands of pesos? Isang heneral na nagmistulang fixer sa LTO.

Sometimes, the military is such a funny organization. They are just so addicted with protocols, and structures, and proper decorum but they couldnt follow just a simple command: do not steal.