The Palace is trying to dispel suspicions about any possible hidden agenda in the spate of appointments of ex military men, men with controversies under their belts, to sensitive civilian agencies.

Press reports are describing Interior and Local Government secretary Ronaldo Puno as having gotten “irked” when queried by reporters about the perceived “militarization” of agenicies like the National Printing Office and the Dangerous Drugs Board.

Just the other day, former army general Jovito Palparan (who’s been widely criticized for his suspected involvement in the deaths of left-leaning activists) was reported to be joining the DDB.

Former military intelligence chief, ex-admiral Tirso Danga, is set to head the NPO.

Secretary Puno has again mouthed the standard Malacanang line that the all the criticism “is just political noise.”

Yes and no, Secretary Puno, sir.

Filipinos were not hallucinating about the military’s widely known involvements in the fraud-marred 2004 elections.

Students of history also know that the military’s politicization is one of the enduring legacies of Ferdinand E. Marcos, whom Mr. Puno served in his early years as a top-notch political ‘operator… errr I mean expert.

Fatal error: Call to undefined function p75HasVideo() in /homepages/39/d169067170/htdocs/voices/wp-content/themes/NewFV/single-default.php on line 57