3 senior officers in shortlist for Army commander post

MANILA, Philippines - Three senior military officers are in the shortlist of candidates for the next commander of the 80,000-strong Army.

The candidates for the much-coveted post are Northern Luzon Command (NOLCOM) chief Lt. Gen. Gregorio Catapang, Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Maj. Gen. John Bonafos and 7th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Hernando Iriberri, Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala revealed Wednesday.

Zagala said all the candidates are qualified to succeed Army chief Lt. Gen. Noel Coballes, who will retire from the service on Feb. 7.

“I’ve worked under all three of them and they are all professionals, competent and capable for the task,” he said.

Aquino, also the commander-in-chief of the military, will lead the change-of -command ceremony at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

The Board of Generals (BOG) had submitted the list of candidates to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who then forwarded it to President Aquino. The BOG consists of the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, the Vice Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff and the commanders of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

Zagala admitted that the president can choose an officer who is not in the shortlist.

“There will always be a possibility that the president will choose outside the recommended (officers). Based on the constitution, the president can choose from the rank of lieutenant colonel and above,” he said.

Zagala said the next Army chief would play a crucial role as the military is seeking to shift its focus from internal security to territorial defense. He noted that the Army is the largest major service and is the most involved in internal peace and security efforts.

A graduate of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) class ’81, Catapang served as commander of the Army’s 7th division before he was named NOLCOM chief. 

He was also the chief of the Army’s 703rd Brigade and a member of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement during his younger years. NOLCOM, Catapang’s present unit, is based in Tarlac, the home province of Aquino.

Bonafos, a graduate of PMA class ’82, served as camp commander of Camp Aguinaldo before being appointed chief of Special Operations Command. He also led the 802nd Brigade, 8th Infantry Division and the 15th Infantry Battalion.

Other posts he held were Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Education and Training, Chief of Staff of the 3rd Infantry Division and Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations of the 2nd and 3rd Infantry Division.

Iriberri, meanwhile, was commander of the 503rd Infantry Brigade based in Abra before being appointed chief of the Nueva Ecija-based 7th Infantry Division.

The PMA class ’83 member is also a former senior military adviser of Gazmin and a former spokesman of the Defense department and the Army.

Catapang will retire from the service on July 11, 2015 while Bonafos will reach the mandatory age of 56 on Oct. 19, 2015. Iriberri, the youngest among the three contenders, will hang up his uniform on April 22, 2016.