Victor Corpus now a general

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has 58 new generals, one of them the controversial chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Victor Corpus.

Corpus, a member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1967, was 18th on the list of senior military officers appointed ad interim to the rank of brigadier general or commodore by Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes. The promotion of the new generals was made effective April 16.

Corpus gained prominence in 1970 when, as an instructor at the PMA, he led a raid of the academy’s armory before joining the communist New People’s Army. He was reinstated in the military after a long incarceration in Camp Aguinaldo and the EDSA revolution of 1986.

Corpus is also known as the nemesis of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, whom he accused of involvement in money laundering and drug trafficking operations.

Other colonels promoted to star rank were: Charles Hotchkiss, wing commander of the 600th air base wing and brother of former Philippine Air Force chief William Hotchkiss, and former AFP spokesman Col. Rafael Romero.

Also promoted to the next rank effective April 15 were 14 brigadier generals and two commodores.