RUMORS about a fresh round of "rigodon" in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are abuzz. And since the one rumored to be replaced, again, is the incumbent AFP chief — Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro — it will trigger a reshuffle in key posts in the AFP. "Again," because on Aug. 8, 2022, he removed his classmate, Gen. Andres Centino, even if the latter is set to retire in February 2023. And the changing of the guard happened just in time before the former reached his compulsory retirement age of 56 on Sept. 18, 2022.

If this rumored impending replacement of Bacarro, who sits barely 90 days or so in office, pushes through, Republic Act (RA) 11709, which defines the new mandatory retirement age and provides for a fixed tour of duty for the AFP chief of staff, will be inutile. This law that was enacted primarily to "obviate revolving-door accommodation promotions ..." in the top AFP post will be useless. Will the malpractice of designating a military chief, even for only a short stint will, like Lazarus, be called from the grave? Will the AFP that has long been struggling to break free from political accommodation that characterizes this unwanted practice be haunted by this anomaly again? Clearly, the impending untimely replacement of Bacarro defeats the intent of the law that allows "the new leadership a longer period to implement reforms and institutionalize sound policies ..." And the ongoing nasty jostling of contenders to his post runs counter to the intent of the state to "enhance professionalism in the organization" as enshrined in RA 11709.

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