Gazmin says all AFP service chiefs eligible for top military post

From the Philippine News Agency (Jan 4): Gazmin says all AFP service chiefs eligible for top military post

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin said all service chiefs of the Armed Forces are qualified to assume the post of Gen. Jessie Dellosa, scheduled to retire this coming Jan. 20. "All service commanders (Army, Navy, Air Force) are eligible for the position," he told his audience of military officials from the different services at Camp Aguinaldo. As a result, all three them, Gazmin said, were included in the shortlist submitted to President Benigno S. Aquino III.

The Army is headed by Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, while the Air Force is commanded by Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino Dela Cruz and the Navy by Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano. Gazmin urged ranking officials to renew their commitment to the military service during the new year. He said: "It is the time for us to renew our pledge to strictly follow the chain of command and exercise utmost prudence in the discharge of our security duties and functions.

"It is the proper moment for us to pursue our fight against all forms of bureaucratic ills and corruption, timely with the approval by the President of our new AFP modernization law we can now implement the upgrading program for the armaments and equipment of our armed forces. "It is also the time for us to work relentlessly on the realization of our internal peace and security plan Bayanihan and to strictly abide with the delicate conditions required of our peace process with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front."

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=&sid=&nid=&rid=484606