AFP has 12 new generals

MANILA, Philippines -  President Aquino approved the promotion of 12 colonels of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to one-star generals last March 27.

They were promoted through an ad interim appointment, which would require confirmation of the Commission on Appointments (CA).

The 12 new generals are Army brigadier generals

Mariano Veloria, Alex Albano, Arnolfo Atendido, Ramona Go, Samuel Narbuada, Maximo Caro and Lito Tabangcura; Navy commodores Geronimo Aganon, Isabelo Gador, Wenefredo Banua, and Caesar Taccad; and Air Force brigadier general Nicanor Vivar.

On the other hand, six one-star generals were promoted to two-star rank effective March 27. These are rear admirals Orwen Cortez and Edgar Abogado and major generals Ramiro Alivio, Elmir de la Cruz, Romulo Bambao, and Alfredo Peralta, who took over as superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy this month.

Eastern Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Arthur Tabaquero, meanwhile, was promoted to lieutenant general last March 26.

A total of 102 lieutenant colonels have been promoted to full colonel, allowing them to join the roster of AFP senior officers.

Among them is the late Air Force Lt. Col. Ferdinand Macasaet, who was gunned down in Baguio City last March 3.

Macasaet, who served as head of the PMA’s air warfare and headquarters tactics group, was on his way home to Pinesville Subdivision on board his Mitsubishi Montero when an unidentified gunman fired at him with a caliber .40 pistol.

He was about to be promoted when he was slain by the gunman, who remains at large. The AFP nevertheless granted him a posthumous promotion since his appointment papers had already been processed.

Also promoted to full colonel was Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos Jr., chief of the AFP public affairs office. Burgos, a member of PMA Class 1988, was former spokesman of the Armed Forces.