Tactical control of Army engineering brigade moved to Cagayan de Oro

From the Philippine News Agency (Feb 15): Tactical control of Army engineering brigade moved to Cagayan de Oro

The tactical control of the Army’s 52nd Engineer Brigade has been transferred to the 4th Infantry Division (ID) in the wake of the Surigao quake last week.

Philippine Army Chief Glorioso Miranda said Wednesday that the transfer took effect last Monday.

He said the 4th ID could best judge where to send the 52nd Engineer Brigade in times of emergencies, such as what happened to Surigao last Friday.

A 6.7-magnitude earthquake struck the northeastern city of Surigao and the province of Surigao del Norte Friday night, leading to the death of six persons and damaging properties estimated at PHP650 million.

The 4th ID has ordered all combat units assigned in Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur to stop all their combat operations and come down from the hills to conduct rescue and retrieval operations in coordination with local government units.

Miranda said the move also became necessary after the jurisdiction of the 52nd Engineer Brigade got smaller after the government decided to reactivate the 54th Engineer Brigade to take care of military infrastructure support in western Mindanao.

After the new brigade was activated, the Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon-based 52nd Engineer Brigade has retained control of only five battalions -- the Engineer Support Battalion, the 512th Engineer Construction Battalion (General Santos), 524th Engineer Construction Battalion (Maguindanao), 534th Engineer Construction Battalion (Davao del Norte), and the 544th Engineer Construction Battalion (Agusan del Sur).

Last Monday, Brig. Gen. Arnold Fernandez relinquished his post as commander of the 52nd Engineer Brigade to take command of the newly activated 54th Engineer Brigade.

Col. Dionisio Baudin, Fernandez’s classmate at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) ’86, was the new 52nd Engineer Brigade replacing Fernandez.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=964304