Sometimes, obedience does not pay.

This must have been what Army Col. Nestor Sadiarin realized by now as his promotion, just a step away from being a star-ranked military officer or as a brigadier general, was unanimously thumbed down by members of the Commission on Appointments (CA) at the screening level.

Sadiarin, also the Armed Forces of the Philippines-Civil Relations Service chief, was reported to have allegedly carried out a survey among soldiers and other military personnel regarding their sentiments on the then political plans of detained Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV.


The survey was believed to have been made upon orders by Sadiarin, yet both he and military chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. would not admit whether the military leadership had something to do with the mock polls that were seen by some quarters as another form of so-called loyalty check.

Sadiarin, in submitting himself to a grilling by the CA committee on national defense headed by Rep. Rodolfo Albano III, was found to have submitted what some lawmakers claimed as “bogus” documents.

It was later found out that he furnished some lawmakers, sitting as members in the panel, sets of surveys different from the one he carried out soldiers and other military officers, earning the ire of Senators Rodolfo Biazon and Panfilo Lacson, both former Philippine Military Academy graduates.

“He lied to us. He’s only one-

and he went against eight stars,” Biazon, a former four-star general being former AFP chief of staff during the Aquino administration, said in reference to himself and Lacson who is a former director general of the Philippine National Police.

Lacson, who confronted Sadiarin on the issue, apparently having secured copies of the survey moved to have perjury charges filed against him.

Sadiarin reportedly yielded a bogus survey with no covering letter and signature.

Sadiarin, he said, should not be allowed to wear the stars of a brigadier general which he wore based on the insignia in his uniform, during the proceedings.

As his promotion was rejected by the committee, Sadiarin cannot reappoint him but the Palace will likely do so, to enable him to undergo another round of confirmation proceedings, although his situation may prove a test case as it was the first, in the history of CA that an appointment was unanimously rejected by the screening panel.

Sadiarin’s two other comrades, Lt. Cols. Virgilio Valmoria and Ukol Paglala, proved to be unlucky as well as their promotions are concerned.

The panel deferred consideration on the promotion of Valmoria and Paglala as colonels of the Medical Administrative Corps and of the Judge Advocate General Service, respectively.

Valmoria, said to have been charged with rape and theft case cases in Zamboanga, was asked to submit the final judgment on his case even if he claimed that these have been dismissed already while Paglala, who was charged with double murder with robbery criminal case also in the same province, tried to convince lawmakers by presenting a clearance from the National Bureau of Investigation.

Biazon said the Office of the Ombudsman has a deputy Ombudsman for the military responsible for issuing these clearances.

Meanwhile, Esperon also yesterday downplayed accusation that the military is conducting surveillance on journalists and even sent four soldiers who posed as mediamen while covering the general court martial hearings against the 28 mutineers in Tanay, Rizal, last week.

According to him, there was no intention to snoop on mediamen.

Reports claimed that during the general court martial hearing of the 28 soldiers charged in the foiled February 2006 coup at Camp Capinpin last Nov. 16, four men who looked like military men have mingled with the reporters.

Among those 28 military officers charged before the general court martial hearings were former Marine Commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda and Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Reportedly, journalists noticed the four men who were holding pen, paper and a hand-held camera taking down notes regarding the topics of the reporters inside the courtroom but not with the case that was being heard.

A military officer said the men might be from the “J2” or intelligence office of the AFP and that they were tasked to list down notes on the conversations of the journalists covering inside the courtroom.

Esperon insisted the soldiers who posed as media men were installed for them to observe and at the same time man the situation inside the Camp Capinpin while the proceedings are being done. Angie M. Rosales and Gina Peralta-Elorde