GRAFT RAPS: We cannot blame Vice President Noli de Castro in lamenting his having become “collateral damage” in the campaign of business rivals to gain money-making opportunities near the Smokey Mountain in Tondo turned into a model human settlement.

With less than 10 days before he bows out of office, De Castro may even have his retirement and other benefits frozen because of the graft charges filed against him and several others for an alleged “midnight deal” involving payments for the Smokey Mountain project.

The project, first estimated to cost P1.8 billion, was conceived during the watch of President Cory Aquino, dragged on through four other administrations, and was finally completed and hailed as a showcase project after 11 years.

Somebody claiming to be a journalist filed graft charges with the Ombudsman against De Castro, other housing officials and businessman Reghis Romero II, who took on the project that everybody said was an impossible job.

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SMEAR JOB: The complaint appears to be part of a vilification campaign to make Romero, chief of R-II Builders, appear bad in the eyes of the business community and to incoming President Noynoy Aquino.

The problem is that others who have had a hand in the project’s paperwork were dragged into the case that is now kicked around as another “midnight deal” just because attempts to collect overdue payments are still eing made now.

R-II Builders said it took the risk and infused P4.1 billion into the asset pool for the project, making it possible to construct 54 buildings and reclaim 79 hectares of land. Some 2,532 families now live in the buildings, some of them as early as in 2002.

Yet R-II Builders has not been paid. For trying collect, it was slapped with a graft case. De Castro was dragged into the case because he signed the memorandum calling attention to the need for payment to members of the pool.

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SENIORITY: One problem with premature and incomplete statements in a fluid situation is that they are usually misunderstood and wrong conclusions are drawn from them.

When President-elect Noynoy Aquino made an issue of seniority in justifying his not wanting Lt. Gen. Delfin Bangit to stay on as armed forces chief of staff, many people thought his choice for Bangit’s replacement will be based mainly on seniority.

(Bangit has asked President Arroyo to allow him to go on optional retirement effective today. Lt. Gen. Nestor Ochoa, chief of the National Development Support Command and concurrent acting vice chief of staff, will be acting chief until Aquino appoints a permanent AFP boss.)

Aquino had said that the successor of Bangit. a member of Philippine Military Academy Class 1978, will be a senior officer — hinting that he will likely come from PMA 1977.

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SHORT LIST: If Aquino applies seniority as his main criterion, he will have to appoint Lt. Gen. Roland Detabali, Southern Luzon Command chief, who won his third star ahead of the rest — making him the most senior lieutenant general in the service.

How come Detabali is hardly being mentioned for the post? Although he comes from PMA Class 1978, he is senior to other generals from Class 1977. The basis of seniority is the date an officer gets his rank

Prominently being talked about are, aside from Ochoa, the two others — Lt. Gen. Ricardo David, commander of the Northern Luzon Command, which is based in Aquino’s home province of Tarlac, and Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

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DEEP SELECTION: Having seen its officers corps politicized, the military is looking forward to President Aquino’s restoring moral dignity, meritocracy and integrity in the service.

Clearly, seniority cannot be the controlling criterion for the appointment of the chief of staff. Fortunately there is a provision for deep selection that enables the Commander-in-Chief to choose as AFP chief any general who has been in grade for a least a year.

Like the Judicial and Bar Council in the judiciary, there is a Board of Generals in the military that submits a short list to the President from which he/she draws the general to lead the military.

President-elect Aquino has indicated that he would balance seniority with meritocracy. He is expected to stop the “revolving door” policy of assigning chiefs of staff to terms as short as four months just to accommodate favorites or those recommended by friends.

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DAVID VS FERRER: Based on conversations with those who claim to know, it appears that the choice for AFP chief has narrowed down to David and Ferrer, both members of PMA 77.

They were bypassed in March by President Arroyo when she appointed Bangit to the top AFP post. Former close-in security and chief of the Presidential Security Group, Bangit belongs to PMA 78 that had adopted GMA as honorary member.

David is a former PSG officer who helped defend then President Cory Aquino from at least seven coup attempts. He is based in Aquino’s home province of Tarlac. In April 2008, he was named commander of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division based in Camp Evangelista in Cagayan de Oro City. He had commanded the Army Support Command at Fort Bonifacio.

Ferrer, based in Davao City, heads the Eastern Mindanao Command covering Region 10 except Lanao Norte and Misamis Occidental, Region 13 (Caraga), Region 11, Region 12, and Maguindanao of the Autonomous Region of Muslin Mindanao. He was commander of the 6th Infantry (KAMPILAN) Division covering Central Mindanao. Last December, he was awarded the Presidential Legion of Honor Award for the successful implementation of the State of Emergency and Martial Law in Maguindanao.

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