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The
longest-serving AFP chief of staff
By
Ramon J Farolan
Taken
from: http://www.inq7.net/opi/2003/mar/16/opi_rfarolan-1.htm
HE
was a soldier's general, the kind of commander who
looked after the comfort and welfare of his men, especially
in combat when the chips were down and things didn't
look too bright. When Lt. Col. Francisco Jucutan's
unit, the 22nd Infantry Battalion, made up mostly
of trainees, was surrounded by Moro National Liberation
Front forces in Maganoy, Cotabato in 1973, he thought
he was in a hopelessly isolated situation. Suddenly,
out of the blue, a chopper spiralled down to a hastily
prepared landing zone close to his command post and
before engines even shut down, out popped Armed Forces
Chief of Staff Gen. Romeo C. Espino.
It
was a scene straight out of an old Western movie with
the cavalry riding to the rescue of outnumbered defenders
in covered wagons encircled by a horde of Indians.
If
the chief of staff is with you, could the rest of
the cavalry be far behind?
*
* *
In
1967, a plot was hatched to train a group of Muslim
recruits in guerrilla warfare for infiltration into
Sabah. The top secret project code-named "Jabidah,"
ran into problems when one of the recruits fled from
Corregidor, site of their training camp. His explosive
revelations regarding their mission soured diplomatic
relations between the Philippines and Malaysia, and
also resulted in the relief of General Espino who
was then the Army commanding general.
Although
he was out of the loop as far as "Jabidah"
was concerned, like a true soldier, he accepted in
silence, the fallout from the ill-starred affair.
It was the classic case of command responsibility.
After
a brief period in the wilderness, he was restored
to office as the vice chief of staff and when Gen.
Manuel Yan retired on Jan. 15, 1972, Espino was designated
AFP chief of staff.
Espino
served in this post from Jan. 15, 1972 to June 15,
1981-nine years and six months-the longest tour of
duty of any AFP chief and spanning one of the most
tumultuous periods in the history of the Armed Forces
and the nation.
When
martial law was declared on Sept. 11, 1972, Espino,
the UP ROTC graduate,
became, in theory if not in practice, the country's
martial law administrator. The major service commanders
under him were: Philippine Army-Maj. Gen. Rafael Zagala,
also a UP ROTC product; Philippine Navy-Rear Admiral
Hilario Ruiz, a naval ROTC graduate from the Philippine
Nautical School; Philippine Air Force-Maj. Gen. Jose
Rancudo from the PAF Flying School; and the Philippine
Constabulary-Maj. Gen. Fidel Ramos from West Point.
Some
people have wondered why Espino had such a long tenure
as head of the Armed Forces. Part of the answer lay
in the fact that in selecting Espino's successor,
President Ferdinand Marcos had to choose between Gen.
Fidel Ramos, the PC chief, and Gen. Fabian Ver, the
commander of the Presidential Security Command and
the director general of the National Intelligence
and Security Authority (NISA). Both men were very
close to the President. It was a difficult and personally
agonizing choice which he kept putting off, not wanting
to alienate or disappoint Ramos or Ver. The main beneficiary
for this indecision was Espino. In the end, Marcos
chose Ver, thus maintaining the UP Vanguard leadership
in the military and setting the stage for Ramos' defection
in February 1986.
*
* *
Espino
was basically a foot soldier, a graduate of the Infantry
Course, General Service School in Baguio City in 1941,
and the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia,
in 1945. But he must have been a frustrated aviator
because every chance he had to take to the air as
a passenger was also an opportunity to be in the cockpit
handling the controls.
His
personal pilot who flew him throughout his stint as
chief of staff was Brig. Gen. Antonio Lukban, a classmate
of mine at the Philippine Military Academy and a native
of Daet, Camarines Norte. Tony recalls that when Espino
was vice chief of staff, he began to spend a lot of
time with an instructor pilot, Capt. Ronnie Benedicto,
flying the U-17, the military version of the Cessna
aircraft.
One
day, without clearance from PAF headquarters or GHQ,
Espino, with his instructor, went on touch and go
(takeoff and landings) at a small airstrip in Canlubang
and after eight of these exercises, he was released
for solo flight by Benedicto. It was an event of great
joy for the general but unfortunately, it had to be
kept secret for fear of administrative sanctions being
imposed on the instructor pilot and squadron commander
(Tony Lukban).
*
* *
Not
many people know that in 1975, Espino led a group
of AFP personnel who landed on the main island of
the Spratlys to strengthen our claim to the area.
Flying in on an Albatross seaplane for two and a half
hours at night and landing in treacherous waters just
as daylight broke, he transferred to a small boat
to reach Pag-asa, the first chief of staff to set
foot on the island.
*
* *
In
his retirement speech on June 15, 1981, he declared
that among all his numerous medals and decorations
(among them were six Distinguished Service Stars,
the Philippine Legion of Honor, the US Legion of Honor,
both in the rank of Commander, the Gold Cross medal),
the one he cherished most was the Wounded Soldier's
Medal, the Philippine equivalent of the US Purple
Heart, which he also received for the Bataan campaign.
Last
Feb. 17, the old soldier who started his career with
an agriculture degree from the University of the Philippines
Los Ba¤os faded away at the age of 88.
*
* *
My
thanks to Brig. Gen. Mamerto Bocanegra who was operations
staff officer (J3) under General Espino, for his assistance
on this article.
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