"We have recommended probable candidates to become the Flag Officer in Command," AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon said.
Esperon declined to name the officers and he stressed there is no guarantee that one of them is already sure of getting the top Navy post, saying Mrs. Arroyo does not have to limit her choice to the three candidates.
He said it was the Board of Generals (BOG) which came up with the shortlist after a rigid selection process. The list was submitted to the Defense Secretary last week.
He said each of the three senior Navy officers has more than a year left in his tenure in military service — a key requirement in the selection process for commanders of major services, the Army, the Air Force and the Navy.
Senior military officers who have less than a year left before their retirement are automatically disqualified from occupying the top post of any of the three major services.
Esperon said seniority was not BOG’s sole basis for selecting the candidates to the top Navy post.
"Not exactly seniority… but seniority is one of the considerations," Esperon said.
Military insiders who declined to be named said the three candidates were Rear Adm. Rogelio Calunsag, AFP Inspector General (IG); Rear Adm. Petronilo Magno, AFP Deputy chief of Staff for Electronics and Information System (J6); and Rear Adm. Emilio Marayag, the incumbent Navy chief of staff.
Calunsag belongs to the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1974. Magno and Marayag graduated from PMA in 1975 and 1976, respectively.
A source admitted the list is not yet final because the President can always choose from among other senior Navy officers.
Calunsag was a member of the AFP ad-hoc fact-finding committee that looked into the involvement of the military officers in the Feb. 24 failed coup plot.
As a result of its investigation, 30 officers headed by former Marine commandant Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, former Army Scout Ranger commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Marine Col. Ariel Querubin are now facing court-martial.
Marayag on the other hand, was a member the fact-finding committee then chaired by Mayuga that investigated the alleged involvement of senior military officials in massive poll irregularities in Mindanao during the May 2004 elections. Mayuga, then head of the AFP-IG, cleared the concerned officers, among them Esperon, former Southern Command chiefs retired Lt. Gens. Gabriel Habacon, Roy Kyamko and retired Marine brigade commander, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani of any involvement in the supposed electoral fraud. Magno, for his part, has never been a subject of any controversy.
Shortly after clearing the officers of involvement in the alleged poll cheating, particularly in Western Mindanao, Mayuga was appointed by Malacañang as Navy chief.
It was also learned that another senior navy officer is reportedly eyeing the top Navy post, despite his having less than a year left in the service.
The officer, Rear Adm. Tirso Danga, incumbent Western Command (Wescom) is reportedly eager to be appointed as Navy chief, even just in an acting capacity until his retirement in September next year.
Danga, a member of PMA Class 1975, could not be reached for comment.
Before his birthday last September, Danga was reported to have lobbied for his appointment to the top Navy post if only to beat the one-year prescription period to get a permanent appointment.
A former head of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP), Danga reportedly holds the "key" to the controversial "Hello Garci" episode.
ISAFP then was widely blamed for the pre-election wiretapping activities on known political figures, including former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
"As far as I’m concerned, he (Danga) has less than a year to go," Esperon said. But he conceded that Danga’s appointment in an acting capacity is also possible.