‘Lion tamer’ gets top Army post

COTABATO CITY — The "lion-tamer" got his just due yesterday when Lt. Gen. Gregorio Camiling Jr. was named Army chief two years after helping restore government control over enclaves of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), including Camp Abubakar in Maguindanao.

"In fact it was long overdue. It was more than two years ago when he played a big role in the hoisting of the Philippine flag in all of these camps which are now peace zones," said Antonio Santos, vice president for Mindanao of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Santos, owner of the city’s biggest hotel, said Central Mindanao’s business community was satisfied with the security measures imposed by Camiling while he was commander of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division.

Camiling earned the moniker "lion-tamer" for his involvement in the planning of how to capture Camp Abubakar, the MILF stronghold that fell to government control on July 9, 2000 after two-weeks of air, artillery and ground offensives.

The fall of Camp Abubakar, formerly perceived as impregnable, was preceded by the joint liberation by combatants of the 6th ID and the 602nd Brigade, then under Col. Hermogenes Esperon Jr., now a general and commander of the Presidential Security Group, of the MILF’s Camp Rajah Muda in North Cotabato.

Thanks to the efforts of Camiling, the Philippine flag now flies victoriously at Camp Abubakar and two dozen other MILF enclaves in Central Mindanao.

Camiling, a Mason, is also known in the region for his cordiality with members of the Muslim religious and political communities. He had helped settle amicably more than a dozen clan wars involving local politicians during his two-year stay here.

Muslim preachers in Maguindanao, during Camiling’s stint as the 6th ID commander, were given key roles in the military’s humanitarian projects in hostile communities as part of the division’s low-level confidence building measures aimed at complementing Malacañang’s peace ventures with the MILF.

Camiling has recently acknowledged the support of the Philippine Marine Corps, the Philippine Air Force and the Philippine National Police in all of his accomplishments while commander of the 6th ID.

Through back-channel efforts, Camiling had worked out the surrender of more than a thousand MILF rebels from different parts of Central Mindanao after soldiers took over their enclaves.

"Many of our brothers in the hills were convinced by the 6th ID then that the government is sincere in helping them start life all over again. Many of those who availed of the government’s reconciliation program through the 6th ID are now peacefully thriving as farmers in their former camps," said Ustadz Siddik Macaumpar, a Maranaw preacher.

Camiling is the only military general to lead three different Army divisions, in Luzon (7th ID), the Visayas (3rd ID) and Mindanao (6th ID). He also served as commander of the Light Armor Brigade in 1995 when he became a one-star general.

Camiling is the recipient of more than 50 military awards, including the second highest combat award, the Distinguished Conduct Star. He holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and took advanced military courses in the United States.