August Moon and the 2010 Elections

General Delfin Bangit

Lt. General Delfin Bangit, Mrs. Arroyo’s mistah and most favorite military officer, was heard over radio defending the recent changes in leadership in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Bangit, whose class is being blamed for reportedly instigating a so-called “Oplan August Moon”, says that PMA Class 1978 deserves to be at the helm of the AFP and the PNP, and dismisses rumours saying that he will replace Victor Ibrado come December.

Bangit says he is content being the head of the Philippine Army. Why?

Sources say that the plan shifted when details of the plot were exposed in the media. Planners say Bangit should stay as Army Chief and wait for the right time to occupy the Chief of Staff post. Ibrado remains chief until March 2010, the day when he is supposed to retire from the service.

Gen. Victor Ibrado conferring with former DND Chief Teodoro

Yet, the revamp which the AFP leadership denied did, indeed happened. A Class ‘78 member, Major General Reynaldo Mapagu, recently took over the military’s National Capital Region Command, the unit tasked to defend the nation’s capital. Mapagu, former commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, assumed the command from Major General Jogy Leo Fojas who retired early this year.

Sources within the military describe Mapagu as Bangit’s most trusted man. Mapagu used to sleep in the same room as Bangit during their plebe days at the Philippine Military Academy. His loyalty remains unquestionable.

Replacing Mapagu at the 10th Infantry Division is Major General Carlos Holganza, another member of Class 78. Holganza, if you remember, was also one of the generals involved in the Hello Garci scandal.

Another Class 1978 member who now hold a major position in the military is Major General Romeo Prestoza, current chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces.  Prestoza, sources say, is the nemesis of Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. He was the one who maneuvered for that special operations against the senator when he brought back former cop Cezar Mancao to testify against his former superior.

Aside from Mapagu and Prestoza, other Class ‘78 members who occupy key military posts are Oscar Rabena, Ralph Villanueva, Roland Detabali and Major General Juancho Saban.

Rabena is current Air Force chief, Detabali is chief of the Southern Luzon Command and Villanueva is Central Command chief. Saban, meanwhile, has been named commandant of the Marine Corps.

Director Roberto Rosales, chief of the National Capital Regional Police Office, is also a member of Class 1978.

The ascension of these generals in the AFP and PNP is part of the plan that will surely culminate with Bangit assuming the top post before the 2010 elections. Why is it so critical for Arroyo’s allies to have pro-Arroyo and sympathetic generals at the helm of the military establishment?

The aim is replicate the formula that took Mrs. Arroyo to power in 2004. Hello Garci was the strategy that fortified Mrs. Arroyo’s hold to power and where it not for sympathetic generals such as former AFP Chief of Staff Hermogenes Esperon Jr. with the help of Bangit and all the rest of Class 1978, Hello Garci could not have succeeded.

It was a simple operation. Hello Garci was the first time that election operators used the military not as protectors to maintain the sanctity of the ballot; they were tasked as the main violators of that sanctity.

With DILG secretary Ronaldo Puno directing Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro’s campaign, high is the probability of a repeat of Hello Garci. Automation or no automation, fraud is sure to happen in May 10, 2010.

Now, a failure of the elections is another scenario that would surely put democracy in danger in the Philippines. A failure of elections scenario is still possible, given that the Comelec refuses to say if it is still possible for those 82,000 counting machines to be delivered on time prior to the elections.