“The three things that stop people more than anything else does from achieving their goals: criticizing, complaining, and blaming. These are the three horsemen of failure.” David DeNotaris, Author and Motivational Speaker

At this point, much have been said about retired Gen Ricardo “Dick” Morales, the President/CEO of PhilHealth  appointed by Pres. Duterte only last year to clean up the Agency. You can quote soundbites from long hours of Senate and Congressional hearings done face-to-face and virtually, and you can drown yourself from the series of radio and TV news and interviews. General Morales never ran away from those invitations. He was always available and present. However, his answers frustrated many people, who didn’t hear what they wanted him to say, thus losing faith in him. Senators have ran short in patience and was left with little confidence in Morales. He did not give them the answers they expected – such as, the conduct of investigations and mass termination and dismissal of officials involved in the anomalies. After rebuttals, General Morales allowed the cross-examiner to leave triumphant, but with a lingering sense of negativity.

Let me start with Secretary Harry Roque, he told Morales that he should implement immediately and not suspend the Universal Health Care Law; if he cannot do it, Morales should resign. Morales responded that he is conserving funds especially with the occurrence of Covid-19 treatments and therefore cannot implement the law at the moment; then ending his statement that Roque is the Press Secretary and not the President – eliciting more verbal attacks from Roque.

Then, Senator Lacson lambasted Morales on the PMA honor code. One particular testimony uttered by General Morales seemed unacceptable to senator Panfilo ‘Ping’ Lacson when Morales, a fellow PMAer like him, told the Senate Committee that the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) honor code does not apply to him anymore after graduating from the Academy.

Senate President Vicente Sotto III moreover rebuked Morales over his remark that even “Superman” could not rid the state insurance firm of corruption. In Tagalog saying, “Kahit si Superman paupuin mo dito, baka hindi nya kaya!” This caused Professor Clarita Carlos, the former President of the National Defense College of the Philippine (NDCP), to react by posting on her Facebook wall, “With officials with this kind of vacuous thinking, we don’t need enemies.”

There are really lots of dumb ways that people try to argue with one another and most of them do not work. They only leave both parties more frustrated ultimately because they each avoid addressing the real issue in its entirety, but resort to name calling. They deflect from the issue at hand by proclaiming that someone is bad or good without any argument to back it up, ad hominem. They attack the character or the authority of the person without addressing the actual substance of the argument.

The whistleblower, Atty. Thorrson Keith, said he is now afraid with his life because when he googled the name of General Morales, he concluded that he was like an “assassin” during his military service. The Presidential Anti-Corruption Commission (PACC) Commissioner, Greco Belgica, testified in the Senate Hearing saying, ′′ The robbery is extreme, the thickness is too much, the extreme shameless. From head to foot.” He is calling for the immediate ouster of Morales. Many political figures launched their own propaganda agenda and they too, to include Vice President Leni Robredo, are demanding the immediate sacking of General Morales. Insults are being thrown at him in batches on social media, specifically at Facebook walls – red faced emoticon reactions and angry comments. This includes one from a retired Air Force general, an underclassman to Morales, lecturing Morales what he should have done! Morales is being cited as incompetent and worse, as a coddler who are in cahoots with the mafia inside the agency.

By the way, before I proceed, I will tell you that I will not name the AFP officers here that I might be placing in the bad light. I do not have the same grit similar to General Morales to confront them. Anyway, my stories are common knowledge in AFP circles. You can do your fact checks. Answers can be retrieved from Google search itself. So let me continue what I know about General Morales to convince you to have faith in him . . .

1) Confronting the Secessionist movement, MNLF (1978): After graduation from PMA, he was dispatched to Jolo as a young 2nd Lieutenant. At 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division, he organized the Forward Reconnaissance Unit, or better known as FRU. With the help of his deputy, 2nd Lieutenant Danny Lim, a fresh graduate from West Point, they both handpicked the fiercest Igorot warriors from the different battalions based in the island consolidating them at FRU to train with them to be a cohesive recon team, giving the Tausug rebels a bloody hard time.

2)    Confronting the Marcoses (1986): with his combat experience and being battle seasoned, he was taken in to be a close-in security to the Marcos family after a certain period of confidence building. With disenchantment among the military circles regarding extensions of retiring generals, the Reform the Armed Forces Movement (RAM) emerged. With his perceived courage, he was tasked to be the mole of RAM inside Malacañang. Did he run away, freeze or fight?

3)    Confronting the Coup Plotters (1989): In the most serious attempted coup d’etat against the government of President Cory Aquino, he was with the side of Cory government negotiating team under General Arturo Enrile who went to face the Scout Rangers at Makati in convincing them to return to barracks. Reference: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1990/10/03/the-final-report-of-the-fact-finding-commission-v-the-failed-december-1989-coup-pre-coup-events-and-battle-zone-narratives/

4)    Confronting the Comptroller Mafia in the AFP (2004): He has written the AFP Chief-of-Staff about the ongoing corruption in the AFP without hiding in anonymity. He was brave enough to gamble his career for the good of the service and the country.

5)    Confronting the AFP Leadership on Military Priorities (2005): As 404th Army Brigade Commander, he publicly complained and criticized the AFP leadership about a Boracay resort. He posted his lament at PlebesAndCavaliers (PnC), an online community composed of PMA alumni, saying, “How can the 60-room resort in Boracay improve the AFP’s capability to fight? Who determined this priority? We have hospitals without medicine, and they spend money for this resort? The top leaders in the AFP, especially the Marine officer who commands (the) Army divisions, allowed this showing their insensitivity to the needs and suffering of the men in the field.” He cannot keep quite when he sees something wrong!

6)    Confronting violators of the Honor Code (2019): He wrote the PMA Alumni Association Incorporated (PMAAAI) not to allow the incoming Chairman of the Board to sit and assume his position. He accused the incoming Chairman of plagiarism for having allegedly published a book that was written by somebody else and not acknowledging the true author in the printed product. Morales said that the Chairman of the Association must be a man of honor and his integrity must be beyond reproach!

From here, let us talk about his success rate: In 1977 to 1980, the measurement of success in Jolo was in body counts. I saw at the Tactical Operation Center (TOC) of Tabak Division the score board for Killed-in-Action (KIA) was somewhere 1:20 (1 FRU versus 20 MNLF killed) in a single encounter; In 1986, we all know what happened. The People Power prevailed due to the spark he started; In 1989, the coup was suppressed, and his contribution was counted with a battle scar to show; In 2004, the comptroller he complained about was sued in court, sentenced and imprisoned. The general is still in prison serving his sentence; In 2005, he was reappointed and given a brigade to command. Reference: https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/3590/colonel-who-hit-brass-over-resort-gets-new-post/story/; in 2019, he stirred the hornet’s nest. Due to his complaint, the author of the book was duly recognized. The author is his younger brother who is a graduate of the US Coast Guard Academy and with a doctorate degree in computers.

So, I believe that General Morales is the best person to lead and clean up PhilHealth! He simply walks the talk. He is considered experienced in confrontational engagements when he already knows his actions are well substantiated. He has the talent, training and experience. https://www.philhealth.gov.ph/news/2019/new_ceo.php#gsc.tab=0 After retiring, Morales joined the AFP General Insurance Corporation (AFPGIC) as vice president and general manager. He served from March 2009 to September 2010. He then moved to the AFP Mutual Benefit Association Inc. (MBAI), where he was president and CEO from March 2011 to September 2013. When I retired in 2012, I went to MBAI to get my refund for my contributions. On that same morning, I got my check! Then, I met General Morales in the building lobby thanking him for the fast service which usually took weeks to process in the past. He told me that with their reinvigorated IT system, the process was shortened! Perhaps, he is hoping for the same thing to happen at PhilHealth . . .

Some are wishing him good health, but I also heard from some sectors that General Morales would be malingering when he filed his medical leave, to evade future hearings. I’m sure he will show up whenever summoned for investigation, He will not run away nor freeze. He’ll surely turn up ready for battle . . .

Please be patient! The corrupt and guilty ones, you’ll hate me when I use this terminology, will be neutralized! However, if he is removed and get replaced, there will be nothing to hope for!

[Proofread and edited by Admiral Rodriguez ‘80]