New Army chief assumes post today

From Malaya Business Insight (Oct 15): New Army chief assumes post today

THE military yesterday said Maj. Gen. Macairog Alberto is qualified to head the 98,000-strong Philippine Army despite his lack of experience as commander of a division or an equivalent unit in the Army.

Alberto, the outgoing chief of the Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP), is due to assume his new post today in rites to be presided over by President Duterte at the Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

Alberto, of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1986, will succeed retiring Lt. Gen. Rolando Joselito Bautista (PMA Class 1985), the incoming secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“We believe he (Alberto) is qualified and he has competence equal to the current Army chief (Bautista),” said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Louie Villanueva. “Definitely, he is qualified (for the job),” he said.

Villanueva said the Army is a “very dynamic organization” and any senior officer can lead the organization.

Alberto is the first senior Army officer, in decades, to lead the Army without having commanded an infantry division or equivalent units like the Special Operations Command.

The last official to be named Army chief, also without that experience, was Maj. Gen. Lisandro Abadia, in January 1991. Abadia was the AFP deputy chief of staff for operations when he was named by President Corazon Aquino as Army chief. Abadia became Armed Forces chief four months later. After his retirement from the service in 1994, Abadia was named chairman of the military’s Retirement Separation and Benefits Systems and was accused of mismanaging the agency.

“That became a pattern before,” said Villanueva, referring to the designation of Army chiefs with experience as commander of infantry divisions or equivalent units. “It’s a platform to qualify (as Army chief),” he added.

Villanueva stressed Army chiefs are recommended by the AFP’s Board of Generals, headed by AFP chief Gen. Carlito Galvez, and approved by the President who is the AFP’s commander-in-chief.

On Friday, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Alberto  is “prepared to do the job” as Army chief. “He is a silent worker. He is low profile but general Alberto is a competent officer,” he said.

Lorenzana, a retired Army major general, said Alberto worked under him when he was the commander of the Army’s Special Operations Command. Lorenzana and Alberto are both Scout Ranger officers.

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