TOURISM Secretary Christina Garcia Frasco, her husband House deputy speaker and Cebu Rep. Vincent Franco Frasco, and Lanao del Sur Rep. Ziaur-Rahman Alonto Adiong are the latest government officials to be commissioned into the Army as reservist officers.
They received their rank of lieutenant colonel and took their oath as Army reservists last Monday.
Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr presided over the donning of rank and oath-taking ceremony of the three officials during a fellowship night at the Army headquarters at Fort Bonifacio.
Among those who attended the event were Senators Francis Tolentino and Sherwin Gatchalian, both holding a rank also of lieutenant colonel in the Army reserve force.
Singer-actress Jessa Zaragoza-Avanzado and singer-actor Brent Valdez were also sworn in as members of the Army reserve force during the event. They were given the rank of private.
Four enlisted celebrity reservists — Avanzado’s husband Cyril “Dingdong” Avanzado, Julieane “Aya” Fernandez, Jean Christopher Santos, and Ivan Carapiet — were promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Many other politicians are members of the Army reserve force, including Vice President Sara Duterte and Sen. Robinhood Padilla, who hold the rank of colonel and captain, respectively.
Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said the Frasco couple, Adiong and the other new members of the Army reserve force applied to become Army reservists.
“The process is they have to apply. Everybody goes through a process and (once their application is approved), they are given their respective ranks according to their positions,” said Trinidad.
“We’re getting our reservists not only from the ranks of the politicians. We also have reservists from the other sectors, including the movie industry,” he also said.
Trinidad said the entry of politicians into the Army reserve force is not politicizing the Armed Forces.
“Basically, they are not causing the military to be politicized,” said he, adding that reservists, in general, are tapped primarily for disaster response and community development.
