Deveraturda to assume AFP WesCom post

From ABS-CBN (Dec 1): Deveraturda to assume AFP WesCom post

Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda will finally sit as the new commander of the Armed Forces Western Command on Wednesday.

Deveraturda was supposed to assume the position on November 8 but the ceremony was indefinitely postponed following the landfall of super typhoon Yolanda.

As then commander of the Cebu-based AFP Central Command, he headed the military’s disaster response and relief operations in Tacloban City and other areas devastated by Yolanda.

“It (situation) is slowly on the road to recovery so the AFP leadership saw it necessary to already continue with the turnovers, so that these new commanders can already start working in their new positions,” AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said.

Zagala is also referring to Maj. Gen. John Bonafos who will replace Deveraturda in Centcom. Bonafos is the outgoing commander of the elite Army Special Operations Command.

Zagala said Deveraturda’s transfer to Wescom is relevant since it has jurisdiction over Palawan and the disputed West Philippine Sea.

“Western Command is our frontier…It always been a traditional assignment for Naval and Air Force officers. We need the expertise of Gen. Deveraturda because he is a seasoned Air Force pilot with many hours clocked in,” he said.

Deveraturda, formerly 2nd Air Division commander and AFP deputy chief of staff for plans, is “well set" to take over the position of Western Command chief and "watch over our interest in the Kalayaan Island Group,” Zagala added.

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/12/01/13/deveraturda-assume-afp-wescom-post