|
By Anthony Vargas Reporter
JUST as the military is getting
ready to engage the Abu Sayyaf in Southern Philippines, the troops
poised for battle are likely to get new commanders.
Sources in the Armed Force of the
Philippine Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo say there is an impending
revamp, the result of several military commanders retiring this
month.
Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, who was
tasked by President Arroyo over the weekend to handle the military
operations against the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu and Basilan, will retire
from service on August 24. Tolentino is now the commanding general
of the Army’s 70,000 soldiers.
An unidentified source inside the
AFP said that the candidates to replace Tolentino as army chief are
down to Lt. Generals Alexander Yano and Cardozo Luna.
Luna, a graduate of the
Philippine Military Academy class of 1975, is now chief of the
Central Command (Centcom) based in Cebu. Yano, PMA class of 1976, is
currently the chief of the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) based in
Lucena City.
Between the two, sources say Yano
is favored over Luna.
Other movements
Lt. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos,
commander of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom), will retire today.
Ramos is a decorated military officer and alumnus of the PMA class
of 1975.
Maj. Gen. Victor Ibrado, the
commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command (Socom), is the
frontrunner to take over as Nolcom command from Ramos, according to
sources at Camp Aguinaldo.
An unnamed source privy to the
reassignment plans said Ibrado has been informed of his new
assignment but nothing has been made formal as of press time.
The source added that Ibrado’s
deputies and regimental commanders in the Special Operations Command
are included among those being considered to replace him as Socom
commander.
Socom is the army unit that has
supervisory control of elite army units—the Scout Rangers, based
in Bulacan; the Light Reaction Battalion and the Special Forces,
both based in Nueva Ecija.
|
