"Social engineering uses influence and persuasion to deceive people by convincing them that the social engineer is someone he is not, or by manipulation. As a result, the social engineer is able to take advantage of people, with or without the use of technology."

Kevin D. Mitnick, author of THE ART OF DECEPTION

On that fateful day, General UGALDE, the PMA superintendent, was with his staff together with a welcoming committee of Baguio officials in Naguilian Road waiting for the motorcade of President Marcos to arrive from Ilocos. When President Marcos arrived, he immediately confronted Ugalde and said, "General, do you know that your armory had been raided by the NPA?" Following military tradition, Ugalde assumed full command responsibility for Corpus' treachery and he was forthwith retired from the Service. Thus ended the brilliant career of Ugalde in ignominy, a psychological baggage he bore the rest of his life.

Corpus likes to be remembered not as a traitor to his country, but as a patriot who sacrificed his career and joined the communist rebellion against the martial law of President Marcos. In fact, this is how he is being perceived, even in the media. This is pure canard and a typical ploy of a social engineer in his art of deception. In fact, Corpus becarne a clandestine member of the militant Kabataang Makabayan, the youth wing of the Communist Party even when he was still a PMA cadet. And when he defected to the NPA/CPP, the declaration of martial law was almost two years away in September 1972. The raid at the PMA armory, together with the defection of a Regular Officer of the AFP was a well planned operation of the CPP/NPA aimed at embarrassing the Military Academy, the military establishment, the government and the flag and country, with Corpus playing the starring role.

I am reminded of Benedict Arnold, the American Revolutionary general whose name is synonymous to traitor, as in: 'Corpus is the Benedict Arnold of the Philippines!'

Benedict Arnold was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1741. He left home at age 14 and fought in the French and Indian War. At the outbreak of the Revolution, Arnold, together with Ethan Allen of Virginia, led the assault on the British forces in Fort Ticonderoga, which fell on May, 1775. He captured 80 British cannons, which he turned over to the American troops. In the fall of the same year, he and General Richard Montgomery led an expedition to capture Quebec. But despite his successes, the Continental Congress bypassed him when promoting a number of junior officers for superior command. Furthermore he was severely criticized for marrying the daughter of a Loyalist and the alleged exploitation of his official position for private gain.

Smarting from these false accusations, and in financial difficulties, Arnold opened negotiations with the British in 1779. Completely unaware of Arnold's treachery, General Washington in 1780 gave him the command of the garrison at West Point, New York. Arnold attempted to surrender the garrison to the British but was prevented from doing so due to the capture of his British accomplice, Major John Andre. Arnold escaped to New York City and later commanded British troops in raids in Virginia and Connecticut. He fled to England in 1781 where he died.

There are uncanny similarities in the treasons perpetrated by Arnold and Corpus. Both were military officers; both were involved in the seizure of arms; the venues of their treachery were West Point and Baguio. West Point was the future home of the United States Military Academy; Baguio is the home of the Philippine Military Academy. Both defected and served with the military forces of the enemy.

Corpus spent the next five years (1971 1975) with the NPA expansion program in Cagayan Valley. He was charged with the recruitment and training of new cadres. His training and experience with the Airborne and Special Forces of the Philippine Army must have endeared him with his communist bosses. By 1975 he was the commander of the NPA forces in Cagayan Valley and was made a member of the CPP Central Committee.

In spite of his successes in the party, in January 1976, while waiting to be fetched for reassignment to Mindanao, he slipped out of the safe house where he was staying, called one of his PMA classmates, went to Fort Bonifacio and offered to surrender to General Fortunato Abat. His offer of surrender was refused, and instead, he was placed under arrest. His reason for surrendering:

• a. He was disgusted with the lifestyle of communist chair Jose Ma. Sison.
• b. He was convinced that a movement with no qualms about killing and harming innocent people in the pursuit of political objectives could not save the country. He cited the Plaza Miranda bombing in 1971.

Subsequently, Corpus together with Ninoy Aquino and Commander Dante, were tried for rebellion by a military tribunal, which found them guilty and sentenced to death by musketry. The military establishment thought that it was a proper ending for a traitor, to die before a firing squad!

Since I spent the martial law years in exile in Singapore, I lost track of Corpus after he was sentenced to death by musketry. Except that during one of the visits of General Ignacio Paz in Singapore, he told me that Corpus was originally detained at the Maximum Security Unit at Fort Bonifacio, but he was later transferred to the ISAFP compound in Camp Aguinaldo for debriefings. General Paz, who was once my junior officer, was the Chief of ISAFP during the martial law years.

Since I have not heard of any execution of Corpus over the years, I assumed that he was under detention still. It was, therefore, a great surprise to me when, shortly after President Estrada was booted out of office as a result of EDSA Dos, that Secretary Angelo Reyes of the Defense Department announced the appointment of Corpus as the new Chief of Intelligence Service, AFP.

How can a traitor condemned to die by musketry suddenly surface as the Chief of Intelligence of the military establishment he once betrayed? Maybe, I told myself, that his years of detention at the ISAFP compound earned him the tenure that qualified him to be its chief. It is like the insane taking over the asylum! Or maybe, the military commission, which sentenced him to death, reversed its decision, exonerated him, and restored him to military service. It reminds me of the case of another military officer, French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus of the celebrated Dreyfus Affair in French history. He was falsely accused of selling military information to the Germans, was court martialed in 1894, was stripped of his military rank, and was sent to Devil's Island, In 1906, the French court of Cassation set aside the verdict against Dreyfus. He was restored to the army and promoted to Major. His only crime was that he was a Jew and not a great Frenchman."

I gathered the following data on Corpus to determine how a traitor can parley himself to be the Chief of Intelligence of the military establishment he once betrayed. Only in the Philippines can this happen! The data is not complete, as I have no access to classified files of the AFP for obvious reason:

1976 to 86	During his detention after his conviction, Corpus was seen by Congressman Frisco San Juan in Malacaņang Palace in conversation with President Marcos. San Juan saw him at least three times.
1986	Granted amnesty by President Aquino shortly after EDSA 1.
1987	Reinstated into the Army by President Aquino. Absolved him of rebellion charges and allowed to return to the Army as a Reserve Officer. Assigned as Chief of the Combat Research Office of J 3 GHQ Wrote a book, 'Silent War' where he outlined how the communist insurgency can be defeated
1988	Co authorized the AFP anti insurgency program, 'Lambat Bitag'
1989	Pioneered the Task Force Panay, a reforestation project in Capiz
1990	Studied Public Administration at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government together with then Colonel Angelo Reyes
2000	Deputy Chief of the Operation Center, National Peace and Development Plan, Department of Defense.
2001	Appointed Chief, Intelligence Service, AFP (ISAFP) As Chief of ISAFP, accused former President Estrada, Senators Ping Lacson and Loi Estrada of stashing away some $730 million from organized crime in banks in the United States, Canada and Hong Kong.
2002	Reached mandatory age of retirement on 04 October
2004	Official records show he will retire on 04 October

Corpus must be a master of social engineering to be able to con his way out of a firing squad, obtain his freedom by an amnesty from the President who, in addition, reinstated him to the Army. And to top it all, he was able to get no less than Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes to convince President Arroyo to appoint him the top intelligence officer of the AFP. According to Kevin D. Mitnick, legendary hacker turned security consultant and author, the social engineer is a master in the art of deception, who gets someone's trust by lying to him and then abusing that trust for personal gain. He can be motivated by a variety of reasons, such as the promise of material wealth, the hope of acquiring political power, and a belief in the ideology of the adversary of his target.

When Corpus was sentenced to death by musketry together with Ninoy Aquino, it gave him the opportunity to identify himself as an Aquino ally and a political adversary of President Marcos, not as a dishonorable traitor that he was. It was but natural for President Aquino, in the euphoria following EDSA 1, to grant him total amnesty and absolved him of rebellion charges against him. Thus, not only did he escape death, but also got immunity from further Court action against him.

He also got President Aquino to reinstate him one year later back to the AFP as a reserve officer. President Aquino had no reason, on her own to do so considering the animosity of the military establishment towards a traitor. But why would Corpus be keen to go back to the ARMY even only as a reserve officer?

From his reinstatement to the AFP to this date, most of his assignments have been either in the Defense Department or the General Headquarters occupying sensitive positions in research and planning, and hobnobbing with senior decision makers in the corridors of military power. It must have been his growing influence in Camp Aguinaldo that won him a scholarship at the Harvard University together with then Colonel Angelo Reyes.

In 1987, he wrote a book (Silent War) where he outlined how the communist insurgency can be defeated. In 1988, he co authored another book (Lambat Bitag), which is the AFP counter insurgency program. In both books, he made extensive use of military information and data from the military source files. I am sure that the CPP/NPA have made these books very important must reading materials.

Angelo Reyes must have been impressed with Corpus in Harvard, that when he became AFP Chief of Staff, he took Corpus into his office as his own Chief of Staff. As such, he played a key role in the events that led to the ouster of President Estrada and the proclamation of Gloria Arroyo to the presidency courtesy of Angelo Reyes.

I am citing passages from the book of Armando Doronilla, "The Fall of Joseph Estrada", to show the synergy between Angelo Reyes and Victor Corpus:

On page 170:

Defensor, brother of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who sided with Estrada at the impeachment trial, spoke on behalf of his group. Defensor proposed a snap election. It would be best to call for a snap election, he said, "so we will know who really has the support of the people."

Wong echoed Defensor. "In the first place, what we did was unconstitutional," he said referring to the defection. "Why don't we take power ourselves?"

These remarks provoked a heated debate between Corpus and the generals. Flaring up, Corpus said, "What you want is a junta and declare a snap election. What you are proposing is unconstitutional. We will be at the wrong end of People Power. We will turn from heroes to heel."

Reyes cut the exchange short, saying, "We stay constitutional."

On page 201:

On Thursday morning, an excited Colonel Corpus rushed into Reyes' office to say that the situation was "about to explode". Corpus was apparently putting pressure on Reyes to make a move. Reyes was not stampeded by Corpus' alarming report. "If you do not move, sir, you might find me on the other side," Corpus said. "Go ahead. Go to the other side, if that is what you believe in." replied Reyes.

Corpus is not qualified to be an Intelligence Officer, much less the Chief of the Service. He has no track record in the military in intelligence work. He has no top security clearance to qualify him to be in intelligence work. The hallmark of a successful intelligence officer is his anonymity; Corpus assumed a very high profile as Chief ISAFP. He even thought he has police powers to investigate and accuse President Estrada, Senators Ping Lacson and Loi Ejercito of criminal activity.

While he is not qualified to be an intelligence officer, he has the capability to create mischief detrimental to the security of the state. He has access, through ISAFP, to the files of the entire intelligence community, which he can download, if he has not done so yet, to both the NPA and other enemies of the state. He has access to the list of all secret agents of the government, especially penetration agents into the NPA, Muslim rebels and other enemies of the state. This knowledge places all these agents in mortal and present danger. He has access to his personal file with ISAFP, which he can sanitize to erase all derogatory reports against him. As the Chief of' ISAFP, he can influence government decisions on defense and security matters, such as the deployment of most of the soldiers to Mindanao thus exposing the rest of the country to NPA depredation. Neat, isn't it?

He is the weakest link in the defense and security structure of the country, and should be immediately removed as Chief ISAFP, and be thoroughly investigated to determine the damage he has caused to the country.

He is an embarrassment, not only to the intelligence community, but also to the country as a whole. Only in the Philippines can this sort of anomaly happen.

By: Colonel C. V. Irlanda, PMA Class '44