Rear Admiral Lopez takes over Westcom amid China tensions

From InterAksyon (Aug 14): Rear Admiral Lopez takes over Westcom amid China tensions

Amid tensions with China, the Western Command, which has jurisdiction over the West Philippine Sea, on Wednesday welcomed its new commander during a turnover of command at Camp Ricarte in Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Former WPS commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda, who is retiring on Aug. 17, handed command responsibility to Rear Admiral Alexander Lopez, the current Deputy Chief of Staff for Education and Training (J8).

Besides the challenging task of maintaining security and defense of the Philippines’ sovereignty, Armed Forces chief-of-staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang expects Lopez to develop more capabilities for his unit.

“I think he (Lopez) can look into developing more capabilities, indigenous (to the Western Command) and then of course, he can also look into developing further our Ulugan Bay (facilities),” Catapang said in Filipino during the change-of-command ceremonies.

This is in line with efforts of the military to improve its minimum credible deterrent capability.

Aside from this, the AFP chief stated Lopez can also do more on the security of the Malampaya oil separation platform.

“These are the things one must do when appointed to the Western Command,” he disclosed.

Besides this, Catapang said that the AFP is continuously monitoring reports of presence of Chinese fishing vessels in the area and for forwarding it to the Department of Foreign Affairs, who will then make representations to China.

Lopez is a member of the Philippine Military Academy “Sandigan” Class of 1982, while Deveraturda was a product of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Officer Candidate School.

Lopez was earlier reported to be a strong contender for the Central Command based in Cebu City following the promotion of his “mistah” (classmate), Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. John Bonafos, who will remain concurrent Cencom commander until President Benigno Aquino III appoints a replacement.

Deveraturda served Westcom for over eight months while Lopez will be leading the command for more than a year before he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Lopez had played a major role in the search-and-retrieval operations for then Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo who died with two others when their plane crashed in Masbate waters two years ago.

Early this year, the Westcom commander has also been called WPS commander after the Department of Defense approved the AFP’s proposal to make the whole WPS territory under the jurisdiction of one commander.

Originally, the WPS territorial landscape was divided into two jurisdictional commands, the Northern Luzon Command which has jurisdiction over upper Luzon in the north and Westcom with lower Luzon in the south.

The Panatag (Scarborough) Shoal, which is part of Masinloc, Zambales is located in upper Luzon and the Kalayaan island Group in Palawan, which forms part of the disputed Spratly Islands, is in the south.

The whole maritime and territorial area is now under the sole command of the WPS commander.

With the aggressive actions of China using its military might to impose its claims on the WPS, Westcom has been transitioning into a territorial defense post with all the available air and naval -- mostly vintage -- assets of the AFP to conduct patrols in the disputed waters.

With an initial budget of P75 billon made available through the revised AFP Modernization Act, the country was able to purchase two former US Coast Guard Hamilton-class ships, which were renamed BRP Gregorio del Pilar and BRP Ramon Alcaraz, as well as a number of brand new transport and naval helicopters.

http://www.interaksyon.com/article/93275/rear-admiral-lopez-takes-over-westcom-amid-china-tensions