Solcom chief to head Southcom

A general who has been active in the fight against communist rebels will soon lead the fight against the Abu Sayyaf in Mindanao.

President Arroyo said yesterday she wants Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, Armed Forces Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) chief, to be the new commander of the Southern Command (Southcom) in Mindanao.

"I have indicated to several senior officials of the AFP that I would like to see Gen. Ernesto Carolina as the head of the Southern Command," the President told reporters in a video telecon-ference from Bangkok, Thailand.

The President has designated current Southcom head Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu as the new Armed Forces chief in place of Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, who retires on May 20.

Villanueva said yesterday the Armed Forces Board of Generals met last Tuesday to decide whom to recommend to Mrs. Arroyo for the top post at Southcom.

Villanueva did not give any details to reporters.

On the other hand, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, a former Armed Forces chief, said yesterday the chief of staff should have a fixed term of three years and major service commanders must serve for two years to give them sufficient time to implement their programs and rid the military of politics.

"Take it from me, I served as AFP chief of staff for only three months," he said.

Biazon said he has filed a bill seeking to grant a fixed term for the Armed Forces chief and the major service commanders as mandated under the Constitution.

"Fixing a term of office for the AFP chief of staff and major service commanders will ensure that the selection will be based on the individual’s qualifications, experience, competence and total worth," he said.

In Maguindanao, Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan said provincial officials would like Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko, commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, to be the next Southcom chief.

"But it’s really up to President Arroyo to decide on that and we will support her decision with regards to that in the same manner that we shall support extensively whoever becomes the next commander of Southcom," he said.

Ampatuan, chairman of the Provincial Peace and Order Council, said they are confident that Kyamko can efficiently pursue Mrs. Arroyo’s confidence-building measures in hostile communities in Southern Mindanao.

"Of course I’m not saying that the other aspirants for that sensitive position are not qualified, or one is better than the other," he said. "It’s really up to President Arroyo and we in the provincial government will honor the President’s decision."

Ampatuan said Kyamko was responsible for the capture of 20 rebel strongholds, including the huge Camp Abubakar during ousted President Joseph Estrada’s all-out war against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in 2000.

Kyamko is also credited for the widening of the 85-kilometer Awang-Esperanza Highway linking Cotabato City with Sultan Kudarat province, he added.

Biazon said he hopes Mrs. Arroyo’s choice for Armed Forces chief and major service commanders would be shielded from political accommodation and personal considerations.

"By giving these leaders of the military organization a tenure, such officers will be inclined to perform better and free from patronage, and hopefully result in a more professional and stable leadership where there is security of tenure and continuity in programs," he said.

Biazon said Mrs. Arroyo’s choices were limited mostly to senior officers who would retire in a few months, and that it would not be advantageous for the Armed Forces to have its chief changed before barely warming his seat.

"Consequently, the choice may not be the best qualified and even open to political interruptions sometimes," he added. "This should not happen to the most important and critical positions in the AFP," he said.

About 40 percent of the 130,000-strong Armed Forces are deployed in Mindanao.

Carolina was a classmate of Cimatu, police Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane and Army chief Lt. Gen. Dionisio Santiago in the Philippine Military Academy Class 1970.

Before taking command of Solcom, Carolina was commander of the Army’s 7th Infantry Division based in Nueva Ecija, and served as Armed Forces deputy chief of staff for civil-military operations, commander of the Army’s 401st Brigade in Northern Mindanao, Armed Forces spokesman, and Army assistant chief of staff.

Upon his appointment as Southcom chief, Carolina will be promoted to the three-star rank of lieutenant general.

Born in Sampaloc, Manila on Oct. 18, 1947, Carolina holds masters degrees in public and business management, applied business economics, and mathematics. — Marichu Villanueva, Aurea Calica, John Unson, Paolo Romero