130 generals get nod from Commission on Appointments

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Appointments yesterday confirmed the promotion of 130 of 131 senior officers of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The lone officer whose confirmation was deferred by the CA’s committee on national defense was Brig. Gen. Alex Albano.

Albano’s nomination was deferred on his own request after a committee member opposed his confirmation.

Sen. Edgardo Angara asked Albano to first resolve the alleged charges of grave abuse of authority he was facing before the CA takes up his promotion in the next hearing.

The proceedings held at the Senate faced an unusually rough start after Nueva Ecija Rep. Rodolfo Antonino manifested his concerns about the promotion process in the AFP over alleged favoritism, patronage and unprofessional influences.

Antonino initially moved to block the nominations of those who would be promoted to the rank of major general pending review of the promotion system of the AFP.

“Some of you that are here may not be deserving of your promotion because it is at the expense of those more deserving but I am sure that many more of you are deserving a higher rank than what you are being nominated to in this committee or should have been promoted earlier,’’ he added.

Antonino said that he was not singling out any officer in particular but when he confronted AFP vice chief of staff Lt. Gen. Reynaldo Mapagu, who serves as a member of the board of generals, he mentioned the case of Brig. Gen. Arnulfo Palmea.

The lawmaker questioned why Palmea was not promoted to two-star general and what prompted the decision to choose major generals Tristan Kison and Pompeo Limbo over him.

Mapagu explained that both Kison and Limbo were more senior than Palmea.

Antonino asked why Limbo was promoted in spite of his derogatory record, which prompted a stern response from Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, chairman of the CA.

Limbo was Enrile’s subordinate when he served as defense minister, but the senator clarified the officer had been cleared of the charge of coup d’etat.

Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who also questioned 21 of the officers facing charges, did not ask to defer confirmation of their promotion and instead asked them to explain the status of their cases.