‘…the next President will have as SND someone who will have the respect of men and women in uniform — from retired generals to the youngest plebe in the Academy, one who is also respected by all sides in the political divide.’
HAPPY Valentine’s Day to everyone to whom love matters a lot, if not above all else — love of God or love of country or family; love for one’s calling or passion or work. For a few I guess love of money, and even love of self — but I hope of the last two may their tribe decrease!
As anyone who has ever fell in love knows — and this is I guess 99.9% of us — love hurts. It is replete with ups and downs, with victories and defeats, with satisfaction and disappointment, even with the proverbial hellos and goodbyes. And why do I say this is true for 99.9% is because this is true for all who have families. We say hello to loved ones when we or they are born and bid them goodbye when it is time to leave. In between, there are the ups and downs that bring flavor to life. Admittedly though some are sweeter and others are more bitter.
Ask yourself — isn’t it also true of love of country? There are times when one is mighty proud of being a Filipino, and yet there are times when one can feel ashamed that one is Filipino! There are days when you are excited about the county’s future. And days when you dread it
But while some of us just take life as it comes, others try to do what they can to shape the future. And for these others, they plow ahead even knowing that heartache or physical pain may follow.
Some even plow ahead knowing that their very lives are at stake. Now, what could be a better gauge of love than that, eh?
I was reading a unique issue of BizNews Asia the other day when these thoughts came flooding into my head. What provoked them were the numerous articles on (or even by) retired Philippine Marines Col. Ariel Querubin, who was recently given retirement honors by his old service, 12 full years after his actual retirement.
Querubin was no ordinary Marine. He is one of only a handful of living awardees of the Medal of Valor, the highest award the Armed Forces of the Philippines can bestow on a man in uniform. As the citation for his award reads: “For acts of conspicuous courage, gallantry and intrepid its above and beyond the call of duty”. Aside from the Medal of Valor, the Colonel also has 48 other medals and decorations, making him the most decorated Filipino soldier in history.
You don’t earn those medals and decorations if you do not wear your love for country on your sleeve. And every man or woman in uniform who wears his love of country on his sleeve does so at the risk of life and limb. Every day, for the rest of his career. But beyond his medals and decorations the career path of Col Querubin struck me as one that (at least in my book) makes him an ideal Secretary of National Defense. I say this because he has seen all sides of a soldier’s life. He has taken on the role of the arresting officer tasked to enforce the orders of those in authority, as well as the role of the protesting soldier-citizen who feels it his duty to air his grievances against perceived illegal acts of those in authority.
He knows the power of the gun, having led missions multiple times (risking his life multiple times as well) and he also knows the liberating power of imprisonment, having spent a number of years in detention for his role in the “Marine standoff” in 2006. Throughout these ups and downs in his storied career, Querubin never lost respect for the institution to which he devoted most of his life. Actually to the institution – and to its men and women in uniform.
Thinking about it, I see no better candidate for the post of SND, whoever is elected President in May, than Ariel Querubin. The next president of the Philippines will have a professional, a dedicated and honorable man at the helm of the Defense department at a time when the country is beset by external threats as well as recurring internal issues.
Just as important, the next President will have as SND someone who will have the respect of men and women in uniform — from retired generals to the youngest plebe in the Academy, one who is also respected by all sides in the political divide. All because of a career devoted to doing what in his heart was what duty to God and country called him to do, transcending the pressures of any partisan interest every time.
What better leadership for the Defense Department and AFP can you ask for?
