Task Force Davao commander relieved, assumes higher post

From the Philippine News Agency (Nov 29): Task Force Davao commander relieved, assumes higher post

Task Force Davao (TFD) commander Col. Marcos Norman Flores Jr. was relieved of his post after only nine months but was given a higher assignment. Flores was replaced by Col. Casiano Monilla in a simple turnover of command ceremony Thursday noon at the task force headquarters here. He assumed post on Wednesday as the new commander of the 1002nd Infantry Brigade vacated by Col. Glorioso Miranda, who was assigned as assistant commandant of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Command and General Staff College in Fort Bonifacio. Major Gen. Ariel Bernardo, commanding general of the 10th Infantry Division, explained that Flores was allowed only a short stint as task force commander so that he could be given a higher position “as a result of his exemplary performance and good leadership.” Bernardo said he was more than satisfied with the way Flores led the elite Army group in making Davao City terror-free.

It can be recalled that the Task Force Davao was created sometime in 2003 as an offshoot of the twin bombings in the old Davao International Airport in Sasa and the Sasa Wharf that killed more than 50 people and injured many others. Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, who also witnessed the event, gave Flores a rating of 9 in a scale of 10 because “he did very well in his job even in a short period of time.” For his part, Flores said he was very thankful for the all-out support of the city government under Mayor Carpio, Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and the city council, private sectors and non-government organizations, civic-oriented groups and the media. Monilla, on the other hand, said he is accepting the challenge of not just replicating the accomplishments of his predecessor but surpassing them. “I would like to continue the physical security in our city and to help the Davao City Police Office in the campaign against all forms of criminality,” he said.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=475818