President Benigno Aquino III is now weighing his options on who between Southern Luzon Command (Solcom) chief Lieutenant General Ricardo Visaya and Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Delgado to select as successor of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.
Visaya, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Matikas Class of 1983, and Delgado, of PMA Sandigan Class ’82, were among five generals Aquino interviewed Wednesday.
The other three who have been deemed out of contention after the interview were Army chief Lt. Gen. Hernando DCA Irriberi (Class ’83), Western Command (Westcom) commander Vice Admiral Alexander Lopez (Class ’82), and Central Command (Centcom) Lt. Gen. Nicanor Vivar (Class ’82).
On July 10, Catapang will turn over the AFP command to his successor as he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 56. He was military chief for less than a year.
‘Revolving door policy’
Now, the choice is also a question of whether or not Aquino will maintain the “revolving door policy” in the selection of the next military chief.
If Aquino chooses Delgado, who has already less than a year remaining in service, then he perpetuates the revolving door policy that his predecessor abused. But if he selects Visaya he would make good on his promise to select a younger general that will serve military chief beyond his term and thus bury the most hated politically-influenced policy.
Delgado will reach mandatory retirement age of 56 in March 2015 while Visaya has until December 2016.
Talk in the Department of National Defense (DND) is that Aquino would choose Delgado but sources close to Aquino said it’s Visaya.
Aquino is again into a situation reminiscent of the case of retired PAF chief Lt. Gen. Lauro Catalino dela Cruz and then Army chief Lt. Gen. Emmanuel Bautista, who was eventually appointed chief of staff by Aquino after intense political lobbying from both camps.
Reports had it that Aquino signed dela Cruz’s appointment a month before his supposed installation as chief of staff only to be recalled a week before turnover of command in favor of Bautista.
Senior officers who were privy to what transpired said Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin convinced Aquino to appoint Bautista by saying the Army has the preponderance of forces on the ground in consideration to the 2013 senatorial election that time.
Earlier, Malacanang spokesmen said Aquino prefers generals to lead the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP) who are able enough to handle the security challenges of the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) and the 2016 election.
Delgado might have the edge over Visaya as he served at the Presidential Security Group (PSG) during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino. The general also became the chief security aide of presidential sister and TV host Kris Aquino and later became Aquino’ senior military adviser.
But Visaya has the respect of the President for being one of a handful of “presidential troubleshooters” or “go-to-guys” when others have failed to accomplish their mission.
http://www.interaksyon.com/article/113591/sinong-mas-matimbang-aquino-weighs-option-between-visaya-and-delgado-for-top-military-post
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