President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. defended his decision to reappoint Gen. Andres Centino as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, saying he had to “rationalize” the senior military leadership to prevent “chaos” in the lower ranks.
In a briefing en route to Switzerland, Mr. Marcos said he had to address the unusual situation where Centino still had the military’s four stars even as Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro, with only three stars, was AFP chief.
The President, however, did not explain why Bacarro was appointed in the first place in August 2022 when Centino was still in active service.
Bacarro was supposed to be the first AFP chief of staff to serve a fixed term of three years under the new Republic Act 11709.
“We rationalized the seniority. Because General Andy Centino has four stars. And Bob Bacarro has three stars. We had to fix that or there will be chaos in the lower ranks,” Mr. Marcos said.
“There were some comments that were mentioned: How about us [in the lower ranks]? If they keep on extending [terms] we in the lower ranks have no more hope [for a promotion]”
“That is not right. Our troops would have low morale. So, we looked at the situation and asked, ‘What do you want us to do?’ We asked the military. [The solution was] to fix seniority. That’s what we did,” the commander-in-chief added.
As for his two other key appointees in the security cluster following the resignation of their predecessors, Mr. Marcos expressed confidence that Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and National Security Adviser Eduardo Año – who both served under his predecessor, President Rodrigo Duterte – will perform well.
Galvez’s appointment came after Defense OIC Jose Faustino Jr. quit his post. Año, on the other hand, replaced Secretary Clarita Carlos who also resigned, saying “it is no longer politic” to stay on.
“Why Secretary Ed Ano? He has a long, long, long experience in intelligence. Before he became Chief of Staff, before he became commander, he was [head of] ISAFP [Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines],” Mr. Marcos said.
“[Galvez] is also very, very experienced. And, in fact, as soon as he took his oath, he knew already, he called for a command conference and I think he will slide into the position really easily,” he added.
Mr. Marcos said he directed Galvez to submit a shortlist of candidates as his replacement in the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army said the appointment of Año, a former AFP chief of staff, as NSA will be a big boost to the National Security Council (NSC).
“His breadth and depth of leadership and administrative experience will surely bolster the NSC – the government body that advises the President and Commander-in-Chief on issues related to the country’s national security,” Army spokesperson Col. Xerxes Trinidad said in a statement.
Interior Secretary Benjamin Abalos Jr. also backed the President’s decision to tap Año, who was Duterte’s DILG chief.
“When I was the chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), I was a witness to Año’s hard work and skill because I was with him in talking with Metro Manila mayors in solving the problems faced by the local government units (LGUs) in the National Capital Region,” Abalos said.
“We also collaborate in the development of strategies and ways to ensure the safety of Metro Manila residents under the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) during the height of the pandemic which resulted in a continuous decrease in cases in NCR and successfully rolling out the vaccination program in the metropolis,” he added.