"By the time the Doña 'ends' her term in 2010, she may well be the only civilian left in the government hierarchy."

Thompson Lantion is the 22nd general appointed to a major position in the civilian bureaucracy. And Generoso Senga, the former AFP chief, will soon head the government broadcast system – NBN 4, with its probably less than 2 percent share of television viewership. If so, he will be the 23rd retired general to be rewarded with a post in the civilian bureaucracy, if the Center for People Empowerment and Good Governance, a research and advocacy group’s September count is correct.

In a September 22 article in the International Herald Tribune, an analyst at the Center reported that 21 military and police generals, led by current Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, have been conscripted into cabinet and other sensitive positions in the government hierarchy, prompting the Tribune to ask if "a de facto military-civilian junta is lording it" over the Philippines.

And who will replace Anneli Lontoc at the Land Transportation Office, now that former police general Tom Lantion has taken over the LTFRB? Insiders at LTO say, with a shiver and a shudder, that it could well be another police general, Reynaldo Berroya.

By the time the Doña "ends" her term in 2010, she may well be the only civilian left in the government hierarchy.

From Lito Banayo.