Why Ex-Navy Officer Gadian Spoke Out

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Why Ex-Navy Officer Gadian Spoke Out

By Bong S. Sarmiento

Monday, 21 February 2011

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Not-so-perfect: Ex-Navy Lt. SG Nancy Gadian's ambition as a child was to become a soldier and had high respects for the military service. But all these were shattered when she herself witnessed alleged corruption by her very own superiors. Photo courtesy of the Philippine Navy

Ex-Navy Lt. Senior Grade Mary Nancy Gadian, deputy chief of Civil Military Operations in the 2007 RP-US Balikatan (shoulder-to-shoulder) exercises recalls her stint in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) with a tinge of sadness because, she says, the institution she served for more than a decade did not live up to the expectations she had as a child.

"Even when I was a kid, my ambition was to be a soldier. My idea then of the military service was that of a highly-respected, role model organization. My years in active service proved me wrong," Gadian said as the financial mess rocking the AFP continues to boil.

Gadian, who gave an exclusive interview to the Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project (PPTRP) this week from a safe house, had a varied and interesting stint in the military: As well as serving in the Navy she was both Deputy Operations Officer and Chief of the Operations Center of the Civil Relations Service (CRS) at the AFP’s headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in 2001. She also spent time as Acting Chief of the Special Operations Group of the CRS.

In 2007, the 42-year old mother of two children, who is now estranged from her husband, alleged corruption involving Balikatan funds and accused senior military officers in the Western Mindanao Command (WestMinCom) of pocketing more than PhP 40 million (USD 909,090).

Gadian's involvement in the joint RP-US military exercise started back in 2001, when she was asked to be one of the planners for Balikatan 2002 held in Clark, Pampanga, and Balikatan 2002-1 conducted in Mindanao. She was designated the Public Affairs Officer for both exercises.

Foot soldiers’ allowances

Five years later, she was involved again in the Balikatan 2007, supervising civil military operations across Mindanao involving medical and dental missions and infrastructure projects like building school classrooms.

At the forefront of civil-military operations, Gadian maintained it was here that she found out that allowances for foot soldiers did not always reach those intended.

“In my trips to the islands, in Sulu and Basilan, our troops were so happy that they received their allowances. They told me it was a first for them. It made me ponder. How many Balikatans have taken place and yet it's their first time to receive an allowance?"

Monetary support arrived to the ground troops during her time, she claimed, but it was not enough since the supposed additional funds were allegedly frozen at WestMinCom then headed by retired Lt. General Eugenio Cedo. The former senior officer vehemently denied all accusations of wrong-doing.

But of the 2007 Balikatan budget amounting to PhP 40 million to PhP 46 million (USD 1.04 million), Gadian, in a letter to the Senate of the Philippines in October 2009, said her office requested PhP 4 million (USD 90,909) to support civil-military operations in the Southern Philippines.

However, only PhP 2.3 million (USD 52,272) was released in two tranches in cash, which was brought all the way from Manila, said Gadian, noting she has documents to prove the liquidation of that amount.

She alleges that even within that amount, she was ordered to produce blank receipts by senior military officers.

A soldier on training under the Balikatan 2007 was entitled to receive a meal allowance of PhP 113.30 (USD 3) each for breakfast, lunch and dinner - a daily total of PhP 339.90 (USD 8), according to one of the documents held by the former Navy junior officer.

Then there's also the PhP 240 (USD 5) daily subsistence allowance given to a soldier who rendered days of work on infrastructure projects under Balikatan 2007 which was not fully released.

Gadian said she tried to bring out the purported wrongdoings in Balikatan 2007 out of concern to the foot soldiers, within the military's internal system but it was a futile practice.

Probed

Eventually, things turned against her when she was ordered arrested for failing to appear before the Navy's Efficiency Separation Board for going AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave). She insisted she did not go AWOL because she filed her resignation within the period of leave.

Measly meal money: Soldiers participating in the 2007 Balikatan exercises are entitled to a meal allowance of PhP113.30 for breakfast, lunch and dinner –or a daily total of PhP339.90. BONG SARMIENTO

Gadian was also probed for having an "extravagant lifestyle" and suspected of “malversing” (embezzling) Balikatan funds.

She described the moves to investigate her as unfair since she was the one alleging wrong-doing by senior military officers.

Disgruntled by the treatment she got, she was further encouraged to publicize her claims when she learned from colleagues that some Army personnel were said to be checking on her background --and too her children.

Gadian told PPTRP that while she was only slightly concerned with her own safety, it was a totally different thing to hear that officials were allegedly asking questions about her children.

“By coming out to tell about corruption in the AFP, my family life was destroyed and the future of my children put to risk,” Gadian says.

However, the recent and ongoing Senate hearings have given her new determination to have her own voice and account heard.

"The people deserve to know the truth on what's happening inside the AFP. Behind the uniform, may mga mukhang demonyo (some are like devils),” Gadian says. "Telling the truth is the only way to clean the rotten system. Our soldiers deserve a better and honorable life."

Asked if she was willing to rejoin the service if the Navy decided to re-instate her, or if she has plans to re-apply under the Aquino administration, Gadian gave a non-committal reply: "That would need some serious thinking," she added. Philippine Public Transparency Reporting Project

(The author is a reporter at MindaNews and stringer of BusinessWorld.)

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