Three-way fight for AFP chief looms; top gun early favorite

From the Manila Standard Today (Jul 8): Three-way fight for AFP chief looms; top gun early favorite

A three-way battle for the top military post shaped up on Monday as the incumbent Gen. Emmanuel Bautista would be retiring in a week’s time after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

The contenders are Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jefrey Delgado (PMA “Sandigan” Class 1982), Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang (PMA Class 1981) and Army chief Lt. Gen. Hernando Irriberi (PMA “Matikas” Class 1983).

Bautista, a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Dimalupig” Class of 1991, presided over his last command conference at Camp Aguinaldo but this was not made open to the media.

Sources said the command conference assessed   the military’s counter-insurgency program dubbed as Internal Peace and Security Plan Bayanihan.

The IPSP replaced   Bantay Laya 1 and 2 of the previous administration that failed to put an end to the 45-year-old communist insurgency.

Bautista, then AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, pushed for the IPSP which earned him the moniker “Bayanihan general.” The IPSP aimed to involve all sectors to end the communist insurgency.

All three  contenders are members of the Board of Generals led by the chief of staff.

Of the contenders, it was Delgado who said he was not banking on the remaining years of his career to become chief of staff.

I’m not really thinking about that at this time. I’m very much contented  with where I am now. I am very much focused on the directions of the Philippine Air Force, “Delgado told reporters during a recent interview.

Delgado  as a young lieutenant served as  chief security aide for Kris Aquino, the youngest sister of President Benigno S. Aquino III.

His closest rival though is Irriberi, former Senior Military Adviser  and spokesman of Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin.

Irriberi may able to “steal the thunder” amid talk that Delgado has already “conceded”.

Catapang, on the other hand, is already a “spent force,” a military source said without going into details.

http://manilastandardtoday.com/2014/07/08/three-way-fight-for-afp-chief-looms-top-gun-early-favorite/