New AFP chief on military coup: So '80s

MANILA, Philippines - Soldiers won’t start an anti-government uprising despite the issues confronting the Aquino administration, the chief of the 125,000-strong armed forces said Thursday.

Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang said the era of military adventurism is over as soldiers are now professional and focused on their duties.

“I think there is none (military adventurism) because it’s hard to be involved in such things. Our soldiers are focused on their job,” Catapang told reporters during his visit to the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

“We experienced that during the 1980s and we’re done with that. We have bigger problems,” he added.

Catapang, a former member of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement that fought the Marcos dictatorship, said he is confident that soldiers won’t be swayed in case some politicians persuade them to join coups.

“We are doing rounds and we are explaining (the issues). We are open to our soldiers,” the military chief said.

The Aquino administration is being hounded by a controversy that stemmed from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), key portions of which were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

The program made headlines after Senator Jinggoy Estrada claimed that senators who voted to impeach Chief Justice Renato Corona, an appointee of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, were given P50 million in additional funding.

The Budget department justified the release, saying the funds came from DAP, which seeks to promote economic activity and hasten the delivery of social services.

DAP releases came from the overall savings of the national government, which included unprogrammed funds generated from windfall revenue collections and unreleased appropriations from slow-moving projects.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court unanimously declared key portions of the DAP unconstitutional, saying they violated the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers.

President Aquino has repeatedly claimed that there is nothing wrong with the implementation of the program but his explanation did not deter some groups from filing impeachment complaints against him.

Catapang called on soldiers not to meddle with the debates on the issue and to just leave the matter to experts.

“If someone approaches them (soldiers), telling them negative things that are happening in the government, they should not be involved” he said.

“I told them what is happening to our government is part of a vibrant democracy and part of the political dynamics in any country and we should not be worried.”