More pots, more kettles.

(From Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Byline: Conrado de Quiros

WHAT is Angelo Reyes doing telling the congressmen to leave his mother alone? Who dragged his mother into the picture in the first place? Didn't he tell the Inquirer his sudden increase in bank deposits over the last couple of years owed to his converting his mother's assets into a joint account? He should thank the Inquirer it did not interview his mother who might have asked who gave him permission for it.

But the people in this government aren't just jacking up the ante on corruption, they're jacking up the ante on bad manners and wrong conduct. Even brothers and mothers are now fair game.

Comes now Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan, the Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesperson, telling the world also to leave the AFP well enough alone. Miriam Defensor-Santiago's expos on the Mafia-like "Gang of 12" that's ripping off P2 billion a year from his favorite institution, Adan says, is hurting the institution itself, quite apart from the generals' wives whom Santiago has implicated in the scam. The accusation, he says, "only strengthens the enemies of the state and poisons the minds of the soldiers. It's as if the sacrifices they made for 30 years or so in the service went for naught. For a soldier, that hurts."

Not at all. It's not the minds of the soldiers Adan should worry about, it's their feet. It's their feet that are being poisoned-from wearing worn-out boots. That's what the Oakwood mutineers at least were saying, which was why they mutinied in the first place: the corruption on top was hurting the foot soldier where it hurt most-his feet. The Oakwood mutiny itself or its aftermath must suggest that Adan's worries come too little too late. The soldiers' minds have long been poisoned. The young officers may now only dream of becoming old officers and turn from mutinous to rich. The rank and file may now only burn with envy.

As to the institution being damaged beyond repair, that is not the fault of Santiago, or those who exposed Maj. Gen. Carlos Garcia, it is the fault of Garcia and ilk. The messenger is not to blame for the bad news, the makers of the bad news are to blame for the bad news. In fact, the expos of shenanigans in the AFP shouldn't strengthen its enemies, it should strengthen the AFP, by ridding it of scoundrels. It's a fallacy to imagine an institution is saved by covering up its stench, as Emile Zola showed with dazzling clarity in the case of the French military, which sought to preserve its honor by condemning one of its officers, Alfred Dreyfus, to rot in jail rather than admit it wrongly accused him of treason. Of course, GMA likes to do it too-she tried to jail Acsa Ramirez instead of admitting she made a mistake-and gets away with it.