Step down, Espinosa dares contenders for AFP top post

Marine Lt. Gen. Edgardo Espinosa challenged yesterday other contenders for the post of Armed Forces chief to retire from the service to allow younger officers to succeed Gen. Angelo Reyes who will step down March 17.

At a press conference sponsored by the Samahan ng Mamamayan sa Pagbabago sa Militar (SAMBA) at the Sulo Hotel in Quezon City, the controversial former Marine commandant said he and other senior generals dream of becoming Armed Forces chief but that they should give in to younger military officers.

"I challenge them that we should all retire and give the top post to younger officers," he said. "I have done my part and I am ready to retire...if it would be for the good of all, then so be it."

Espinosa, who is commandant of the Joint Command and Staff College in Camp Aguinaldo, said he is still interested in becoming Armed Forces chief despite reports that he is being offered the post of chairman of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office, the country’s de facto embassy in Taiwan.

"To be the (Armed Forces) chief is a lifetime dream of every soldier and I’m not a hypocrite to deny that it is mine as well," he said.

Reyes will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 on March 17.

Apart from Espinosa, the other contenders for Armed Forces chief are: vice chief Lt. Gen. Jose Calimlim, deputy chief Lt. Gen. Jaime delos Santos, Army chief Lt. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, and Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Benjamin Defensor.

Also being considered are former Navy flag-officer-in-command Rear Adm. Guillermo Wong and Southern Command chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling.

During the same press briefing, Espinosa accused Reyes of exercising "weak leadership" for succumbing to "pressure" to relieve him as chief of the Southern Command in February last year.

"What is that pressure?" he asked. "I don’t know but I’m a victim of that pressure."

Espinosa said Reyes had admitted to him after Estrada’s ouster that the Armed Forces chief had been "pressured" into relieving him from the post of Southcom commander.

"But for me, a military officer, if I know my subordinate is right, I will defend him till kingdom come," he said.

Espinosa said he was removed as Southcom chief because of his opposition to the Estrada administration’s "total war" policy against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

On reports linking him to alleged irregularities in the purchase of P3.8 million worth of helmets for the Marines in 1998, Espinosa said he had rejected the first batch from China as defective, and that 500 helmets from Taiwan had passed the testing he had ordered.

"It was 500 helmets, not 799," he said.

Espinosa said he had nothing to do with the missing 72 German-made assault rifles, and that criticisms being hurled against him were the "handiwork of forces with well-oiled machinery" to get him out of the race for Armed Forces chief.

Espinosa said other unresolved anomalies in the Armed Forces are: the missing funds for the Citizens Armed Forces Geographical Units; 1.4 million worth of smuggled goods; and the P800 million import scam and procurement irregularities in the AFP Logistics Center. –Paolo Romero