By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
04/27/2008

MANILA, Philippines—For Darryl Mobley, one of America’s popular life coaches, his first trip to the Philippines turned out to be more than just for a speaking engagement for a top multinational corporation.

It led to a reunion with a classmate he had not seen in three decades—a friend who, unbeknownst to him, had been tagged an enemy by the government.

When Mobley saw Army Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim at the latter’s court-martial hearing early this month, memories of the years they spent together at the US Military Academy at West Point came flooding back.

“We recognized each other right away. Danny had the same smile, the same kind of intensity. He was always kind of intense but he would crack jokes,” Mobley told the Inquirer in a recent interview at the Peninsula Manila hotel, where he was billeted for a week-long stay for his “work life balance” lectures for Procter & Gamble employees.

Ironically, it was this same Makati hotel that Lim, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV and their supporters had taken over for six hours before police crashed an armored personnel carrier into the front entrance and lobbed tear gas into the foyer in November last year.

Mobley, who left the US Army nine years ago, said he told their West Point classmates that he would update them on “everything that has happened to Danny,” the only Filipino in the Class of 1978, during their four-day 30th reunion celebration that ends today.

Lim, who also received the invitation sent to every ’78 alumnus, would not be attending the homecoming—for obvious reasons.

Meeting each other after so many years, Mobley and Lim lost no time catching up during a break in the hearing at Camp Aguinaldo.

Mobley rang up some of their West Point classmates, waking them up at 3 a.m. in the United States, just so they could say “Hello” to Lim. He also called up his wife in Texas and introduced her to Lim and Lim’s wife.

Two days later, after being given permission by Lim’s military and police custodians, Mobley visited him at the Camp Crame custodial center where the Army general has been detained with Trillanes and the Magdalo leaders since the Nov. 29 Peninsula Manila siege.

But at least for a few hours, the two friends had their own reunion—albeit under heavy guard and within the confines of a detention compound.

Had it not been for his Procter & Gamble speaking engagement, Mobley said he would not have been able to see Lim.

“I thought it was fate that sent me here,” he said, adding that he asked Lim’s wife, Aloy, and their 17-year-old daughter to regularly update him about his friend.

For Mobley, 50, seeing Lim incarcerated—tried by a military tribunal for leading a mutiny and charged in a criminal court for rebellion—was unbelievable.

“Danny is not a rebel. Danny is an idealist in a world that is not so ideal ... Rebels oftentimes exist for their own purpose,” he said.

Lim had been involved in the 1989 coup, the bloodiest uprising against then President Corazon Aquino, the failed February 2006 alleged power grab, and the Nov. 29 walkout from the Magdalo hearing that led to the Peninsula siege.

In the last two incidents, Lim was one with other military officers in denouncing the alleged massive corruption in the government, as well as the purported cheating in the May 2004 elections, supposedly with the help of some military generals, to favor Ms Arroyo.

But even with Lim’s supposed rebellious nature, he served the Armed Forces well after being granted amnesty which expunged his participation in the 1989 coup.

He became the commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment (FSRR), an elite fighting force of the Armed Forces, and the youngest officer to be given star rank.

As early as then, there was talk among the troops that Lim would become Army chief, and eventually, AFP chief of staff.

Mobley, for his part, is known as the “black Dr. Phil” and the “male Oprah,” having made a name for himself for being an “expert on how to make a life worth living.”

He is a marketing consultant, an excellent motivational speaker, and the force behind Family Digest Magazine, the leading family and relationships publication for black Americans.

Mobley lost contact with Lim soon after graduation as the latter returned to the Philippines to serve in the Army.

It was only when Mobley was in South Korea en route to Manila for a speaking engagement that he decided to “google” Lim.

“While in Korea, I ‘googled’ his name, figured I’d look him up and say ‘Hi.’ And the first thing I see is an article about him being in trouble. I said, ‘Whaat?’” Mobley narrated.

During his talk at Procter & Gamble, he told his audience that his friend “Danny Lim” was in trouble. “I said if anybody sees him, please tell him that I hope he’s OK ... I don’t know what happened, but the Danny that I know would not try to hurt people.”

That night, he received a call from Vicente Verdadero, Lim’s lawyer.

Verdadero’s daughter, a Procter & Gamble employee, had been in the audience when Mobley spoke about Lim.

“It was providential,” Verdadero said. Lim, he added, was ecstatic when he learned that Mobley was in the country and they would have a chance to meet.

Verdadero said Lim became misty-eyed when he and Mobley met for the first time at the court-martial hearing.

The lawyer said it was the first time he saw the general like this in all the years they have known each other.

“People will be very surprised that Danny would be behind bars anywhere because this Danny... was always one who’d do what is right. That’s his deal,” Mobley said. “Danny’s always going to step up and be heard when the situation calls for it.”

Mobley and Lim became friends in their late teens, as West Point cadets trying to hurdle the grueling and challenging training to become Army officers.

He said they became “quite close,” especially after taking a summer training class together. They took the same engineering and math classes, boxed, wrestled, parachuted, played cards and traveled together.

“I knew him quite well,” Mobley said, noting that Lim was the first Filipino he ever met.

The cadet from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) who earned a slot at West Point spoke passionately about his country.

“I knew then that he loved the Philippines. He made me want to come to the Philippines because he spoke about it so much,” Mobley said.

At West Point, Mobley and Lim “took very seriously” the honor code: “A cadet would not lie, cheat and steal, and he won’t tolerate those who do.”

Mobley said that while observing his friend’s court-martial, he was a bit confused about the charges.

He was going to be “delicate,” Mobley said, in talking about his observations, admitting that he was not too familiar with the goings-on in the Philippines and the intricacies of its politics.

He said it was sad to see his friend Lim incarcerated, “the exact same Danny who loves the Philippines and wants it to be a better place for everyone.”

Lim has been consistent in saying he sacrificed his own career not because he wanted power, but because he wanted to see genuine reforms in the Armed Forces and in the country as a whole.

As a motivational speaker, Mobley said he would tell his friend that “change is necessary for people, institutions, even as a process to improve.”

“A seed must crack its shell to grow. A tree, every year, must change leaves. The waves change. Seasons change. The critical thing—when you are dealing with people—is how to create change such that you get to the end point in a way that is consistent with your values,” he said. “If you lead, the power of your ideas should lead people to a better place.”

Lim remains motivated, according to Mobley.

“You can tell he is not broken. One of my models is ‘We don’t give up, we don’t give in, we never quit. And I told him, Danny, don’t give up, don’t give in and don’t quit,’” he said, adding: “But that doesn’t mean you don’t step back and look at the situation. But keep the spirit and do what you have to do.”

“I just want him safe,” Mobley said of Lim as he prepared to go back to the United States. “He’s my friend. I just want him safe.”