New Army chief named

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Army (PA) will have a new commander following President Duterte’s designation of incumbent Lucena City-based Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) commander Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay to lead the country’s main fighting force, replacing Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto, who is retiring tomorrow.

Described by his peers and men as a cool and well-rounded officer, Gapay is the valedictorian of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sinagtala” class of 1986, the same class of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and incumbent Sen. Ronald dela Rosa.

Solcom chief of civil-military operations Col. Ronaldo Dumawa said Gapay would take over the leadership of the 97,000-strong PA from Alberto in a turnover ceremony scheduled tomorrow.

Prior to his designation as the incoming Army chief, Gapay headed various army units following his graduation from the PMA. These assignments include being the commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Iligan City, deputy commander of the Davao City-based Eastern Mindanao Command and spokesman of martial law in Mindanao prior to his designation in Solcom.

Gapay also conceptualized a thorough civil-military campaign aimed at addressing the country’s decades-old insurgency problem.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Campaign Plan ‘Oplan Bayanihan’ was anchored on Gen. Gapay’s concept on how to effectively address the insurgency problem,” Dumawa said.

As Solcom commander, Gapay also created the regional task force – the first in the AFP – aimed at ending the insurgency, an action used as basis by Duterte in issuing Executive Order 70 that established the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).

As incoming Army chief, Gapay, known for his brilliance in field administration and operations, is expected to make things easier for every member of the Army.

“He makes complicated things easy for everybody. Actually, he is a cool officer,” a junior officer said.

Sources said a number of senior officers have been shortlisted to be Gapay’s replacement as Solcom commander. The key contenders include Maj. Gen. Arnulfo Burgos, the commander of the Tanay-based 2nd Infantry Division, and Maj. Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr., the AFP deputy chief-of-staff for Civil-Military Operations (J7) and a key figure in the NTF-ELCAC.

Eleazar promoted

Meanwhile, one of the top contenders as the next PNP chief has been promoted.

Duterte, in a letter dated to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, approved the promotion of Maj. Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar to the rank of lieutenant general.

Eleazar will officially receive his three-star rank at an oath-taking and donning ceremony today at Camp Crame.

Eleazar, also a member of PMA “Sinagtala” class of 1986, is the current chief of the directorial staff.

He is among three police officials whom Año recommended to Duterte as candidates to replace former PNP chief Oscar Albayalde, who stepped down from his post last October amid allegations that he protected “ninja” cops or police officers involved in the recycling of prohibited narcotics.

The other contenders are PNP officer-in-charge Lt. Gen. Archie Francisco Gamboa and deputy chief for operations Lt. Gen. Camilo Pancratius Cascolan. – With Emmanuel Tupas