President Rodrigo Duterte has named the head of the military’s Southern Luzon Command as the new commanding general of the Philippine Army.
Lt. Gen. Gilbert Gapay, will lead the 98,000-strong Philippine Army upon the retirement of Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto on Friday, according to a letter from Malacañang addressed to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana.
President Duterte has also appointed a new Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon and 17 prosecutors to fill the vacancies in the Department of Justice’s National Prosecution Service.
He appointed the Ombudsman’s Deputy Special Prosecutor Cornelio Somido to be the new Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon. Somido formally took his oath on Tuesday night before Duterte in Malacañang.
Somido will take over the post of Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, which was vacated by Gerard Mosqueda who stepped down in June 2019.
Gapay was formerly deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and head of the Joint Task Force Haribon in charge of securing the Mega Davao area after the September 2016 bombing of the Roxas night market.
He was also in charge of security at the launching of the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations held in Davao City in 2017.
Gapay topped the Philippine Military Academy “Sinagtala” Class of 1986. With Rey E. Requejo
