Unrest in the Barracks

The first signs of serious military dissatisfaction came only twelve months ago. The military promotion system, charged a report circulated anonymously by alumni of the Philippine Military Academy, "rewards boot-licking incompetence and banishes independent-minded professionals and achievers." At academy homecoming ceremonies a month later, 300 alumni from the 14 most recent graduating classes openly declared their feelings by hoisting a banner that read UNITY THROUGH REFORMS, with many sporting T shirts that proclaimed WE BELONG.

A rallying cry was born. Since then, the We Belong movement has gained varying degrees of support from as many as half of the Philippine military's 15,000 officers. Last week the armed forces Deputy Chief of Staff Lieut. General Fidel Ramos, 57, and Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, 62, took the unorthodox--and daring--step of resigning their lofty posts to signal that they too belong.

Although the resignations caught many Filipinos by surprise, both men have long been known to sympathize with the military reform movement. Only last April the two persuaded President Ferdinand Marcos to meet with junior officers to discuss their complaints. At the time, Ramos was standing in for Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Fabian Ver, who along with 25 others was facing conspiracy charges in the assassination of Opposition Leader Benigno Aquino Jr. (he was later acquitted). Ramos, a West Point graduate who has been in the army for 35 years, has a reputation for honesty, integrity and evenhandedness. But when he proposed sweeping personnel and operational changes to strengthen the demoralized military in the face of a mounting Communist insurgency, he was thwarted by a lack of authority.

Enrile also has a reputation for being reform-minded. Over the past two decades he has emerged as a discreet internal critic of the Marcos government, even though he was an architect and implementer of the 1972 martial law crackdown. Although Enrile had never openly criticized the President until now, despite a humiliating loss of power to General Ver, which Marcos ) sanctioned, as long as two years ago he had begun privately to confide his concerns about Ver's broad powers. If Marcos again declared martial law, he said, he would feel compelled to quit his post.

The military is deeply divided in its allegiance. Officers loyal to Ver have been given promotions, plum assignments and extended tours of duty beyond retirement age. Critics of Ver, finding their advancement blocked by aging generals and a system that rewards political connections rather than merit, have taken their grievances to the press. They accuse their senior officers of encouraging graft and corruption, of human rights violations, interference in elections and a general lack of professionalism. They almost unanimously point to Ver as the man responsible for the military's lack of cohesion and poor morale.

The precise dimensions of the military reform movement are unknown. That is largely because most members have campaigned secretly, some out of concern for their safety, others in the belief that their anonymity forces fellow soldiers to be cautious about open corruption.

The reformers have come in for much criticism, particularly from military hawks. Detractors charge that the reform movement is propelled by self- interest and monetary gain, not by a genuine desire to purge the military of corruption. Reformers bridle at the charge. "Politics is for the politicians and the people," says one reformer. The Philippine military, he insists, is trying to heal itself, "and if it finally does, we hope that there will be some good guys around to direct it." Ramos and Enrile, it would seem, might be happy to take on that task.