On December 23, 2010, Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commandant, Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo finally received a reply from his official letter to his American counterpart, Commandant, Admiral Robert J.Papp Jr. On September 19th the Commodore had expressed a deep desire to re-initiate an educational agreement between the 2 entities so that Philippine cadets may once again attend the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. The co-operative agreement ended in 1992 as US/GRP relations hit an all time low over the loss of the American footholds at Clark Airbase and Subic Naval Station, both in Central Luzon. Though the programme ended in 1992, those cadets then in attendance were of course allowed to complete their studies with the last Filipino graduating in 1997. Currently only 3 alumni of the American school remain in the PCG, Tamayo being one of them.
Tamayo graduated in 1979, while the other two,:
1) Commodore Gilbert Rueras who currently holds Command of PCG's MSSC (Maritime Safety Services Command) who graduated in 1986
2) Commodore Aaron Reconquista, currently in Command of PCG's Airgroup who also graduated in 1986.
In addition there are also 4 other Alumni who later transferred into the Navy so that there is a total of 7 alumni between the 2 branches. Tamayo says that he will choose from amongst the strongest performing 1st Year cadets at the PMMA (Philippine Merchant Marine Academy) since there is no Philippine Coast Guard Academy. One would imagine that in a nation made up of several thousand islands in which smuggling and piracy runs rampant that greater care would be given towards training the Coast Guard.
Lately I have devoted quite a bit of space to ex-AFP Comptroller, Major General Carlos F.Garcia and his fall from grace. To recap, Garcia had managed to amass hundreds of millions of pesos by embezzling, and to a lesser extent soliciting bribes over AFP tenders and timely disbursements to contractors. His world began to unravel in 2003 when 1 of his 3 sons was detained by US Customs and Immigration for importing 100,000 US (4.75 Million Pesos) into the US without declaring it. Under US Federal Law anything over 9,999 US must be declared for purposes of taxation. In 2004 Garcia's wife Clarita stupidly filed an affadavit with US Customs trying to recover that cash. In her statement Clarita Garcia incredibly stated that as the wife of an AFP General she was always receiving "large sums of cash as gratuities" from contractors who wished to express their sincere and heartfelt sentiments to her husband for his having helping them wrangle plush military contracts as well as for expediting disbursements for those contracts after they were awarded.
Inexplicably Ms.Garcia also described how she had 5 AFP drivers, 5 AFP vehicles and a 4,000 gallon gasoline allowance MONTHLY. She also told US Customs how she had an AFP cook who played the piano for her, "when asked." Mrs.Garcia's insane admissions were all typed neatly on her affidavit, which was then forawded to the Philippine Consulate in San Francisco, California, the city where here son was pinched by Customs. By late 2004 the case was passed to JAGO (AFP speak for Judge Advocate General's Office), the AFP equivalent to a chief state prosecutor in the non-military justice system. The paperwork held other suprises as well, not least of which was Major General Garcia having obtained Permanent Residency status in the US for himself and his family. This is verboten within the AFP, being viewed as a compromising of allegiance to the Philippines.
By 2005 Garcia was dishonourably discharged and in jail, the jist of which I have covered in my other recent AFP entries. On December 17 Secretary De Lima (Department of Justice) announced that in her review of Garcia's highly controversial plea bargain she had found a 5 year old outstanding Tax Evasion case against the disgraced ex-officer. The case covers undeclared income for years 2000 through 2003 in the amount of 3.4 Million Pesos (roughly 64,000 US). In addition, his wife Clarita, who listed her occupation as "Homemaker," had undeclared stock and currency transactions worth 7.88 Million Pesos (roughly 150,000 US). These new discoveries resulted in a second Immigration Hold Order being placed on Garcia, preventing him from leaving via a commercial flight should he try to go abroad before his sentencing is concluded. He had been under an initial Hold Order after being bailed out of jail but each order expires in 60 days and De Lima said she wanted to ensure no lapse would take place as she tries her best to have Garcia's plea bargain voided. De Lima is also angrily vowed to find out why the Tax Evasion case apparently slipped between the cracks (cough...bribe...cough).
On December 13, 2010, at Chinese Ambassador to the Philippines Liu Jianchao's residence in Makati's Das Marinas a select group of visitors listened as the Ambassador gushed about a new age of co-operation between the AFP and the Chinese military. However Ambassador Jiancho said that the first steps would be moderate and involve , perhaps, joint maritime search and rescue operations and/or counter-narcotics activities. The ambassador also mentioned Human Trafficking as an area China would like to jointly coordinate on. The small discussion came on the heels of AFP Chief of Staff, General Ricardo David's official trip to China where he inked a deal worth 24 Million Yuan (150 Million Pesos/roughly $2.8 Million) in Military Engineering Equipment.
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