A BEMEDALLED officer has been named commander of the Army Special Operations Command, (Socom) replacing Maj. Gen. John Bonafos who was designated Armed Forces Central Command chief more than a month ago.
Brig. Gen. Donato San Juan, a member of Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1984, was designated commander of the Socom, which composed of the Scout Ranger Regiment, the Special Forces Regiment and the Light Reaction Battalion.
San Juan was replaced by Col. Ronnie Evangelista as commander of the Special Forces Regiment. Evangelista is a member of PMA Class of 1986.
Before he be became the Special Forces commander and eventually the Socom chief, San Juan served as the Army’s Assistant Chief of Staff for Personnel (G-1).
Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, Armed Forces Public Information Office chief, said that San Juan was given the Best Battalion Commander Award in 2000 and 2004. “He was also a part of the operation that rescued American kidnap victim Gracia Burnham, and it was his group that caught the group of Abu Sayyaf Spokesman Abu Sabaya onshore,” Zagala said of San Juan.
“Seventeen members of the Abu Sayyaf Group died in that encounter, and this lead to the findings that Sabaya’s group was not in Basilan. That was among the accomplishments of General San Juan,” he added. Zagala said San Juan had also served as United Nations observer in northern Iraq in the 1990s.
On the other hand, Evangelista had served as officer in charge of the Special Force Regiment and as acting commandant of the Special Forces School and commander of the Light Reaction Battalion.
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