PSG chief promoted to brigadier general

President Arroyo has promoted Presidential Security Group (PSG) chief Romeo Prestoza to the rank of brigadier general less than a year after he was appointed to the post, officials said yesterday.

Other developments in this elite unit include the appointment of Air Force Lt. Col. Ralph Mamauag and Marine Lt. Col. Joseph Calderon as heads of the Presidential Guards and Presidential Escorts, respectively.

Malacañang and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officials said Prestoza’s promotion was overdue since his position requires the rank of a one-star general.

Prestoza was named PSG chief in July last year, a few months after the Arroyo administration quashed what it claimed was a rightist-leftist coup plot supported by the political opposition.

He is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1978, which has Mrs. Arroyo as one of its honorary members.

Prior to his appointment as PSG chief, Prestoza was the deputy chief of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) and head of its Office of Ethical Standards and Public Accountability.

He also served in various units and offices of the ISAFP, including as special projects officer of the Military Intelligence Group 16, the anti-smuggling Task Force Aduana, the anti-kidnapping task force, and as task group commander of the technical group of the Presidential Task Force on Intelligence and Counter-intelligence.

Prestoza was also air attache at the Philippine Embassy in Washington D.C.

Prestoza took several intelligence courses, both locally and abroad, including the Home Defense Seminar, the Air Command Staff Course, and the Intelligence Officers Training Course sponsored by the Australian Secret Intelligence Service, where he graduated at the top of his class.

He was also assigned as flight commander at the Philippine Air Force Flying School at the Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas.

Prestoza has received three Distinguished Service stars, seven Bronze Cross medals and 25 Military Merit medals, among others. He was also recommended for meritorious promotions in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

He is married to Lilian Obillo, with whom he has three children.