Noy names ex-AFP chief as undersecretary

MANILA, Philippines - True to his word, President Aquino has appointed as an undersecretary retired Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, exactly a month after he retired upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Malacañang announced yesterday the designation of Bautista as one of the undersecretaries under the Office of the President, which in nature is a civilian job that Aquino had promised to the retired officer last July.

“After a long vacation of about one month, he will return to continue serving the people,” Aquino said in the turnover ceremonies at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City where Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang took over as new chief of the AFP.

Both Catapang and Bautista are members of the Philippine Military Academy Dimalupig Class of 1981.

Bautista will serve specifically as executive director of the Cabinet cluster on security, justice and peace, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. said in a press briefing yesterday.

Based on Executive Order No. 43, series of 2011, “the security cluster shall ensure the preservation of national sovereignty and the rule of law, and focus on the protection and promotion of human rights and the pursuit of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace.”

The cluster is headed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and composed of officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of National Defense, Department of Justice, National Security Adviser and the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.

Coloma said Bautista could provide inputs and serve as coordinator among these agencies tackling various issues such as the West Philippine Sea territorial and maritime dispute, the peace negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the peace and order situation, prosecution and criminal justice system, among others covered by the departments and agencies in the cluster.

Coloma pointed out the former military chief was chosen for the post based on his capability in terms of leadership and management.

He said aside from designing the territorial defense strategy, Bautista was also responsible for the internal security plan “Bayanihan” to fight insurgency through providing livelihood for the people in communist-infested areas.

Bautista was among the new appointees Aquino named, including officials at the Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Justice, Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Education and the Board of Governors of the Philippine Red Cross.

Aquino cited the challenges that Bautista went through that included the February 2013 Sabah crisis, the Zamboanga siege in September 2013, the kidnapping of peacekeepers in the Golan Heights, the earthquake in Bohol and Cebu and Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas. – With Aurea Calica, Jaime Laude