Air Force General Assumes As New AFP Centcom Chief

A general from the Philippine Air Force (PAF) has assumed as the new chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command (AFP-Centcom) based in Camp Lapu-Lapu in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.

Major Gen. Raul del Rosario, the newly-installed Centcom commander, vowed to support the government’s drive against illegal drugs and also keep the peace and stability in the Visayas.

“I promise I will not destroy the trust you have placed in me,” he said in his speech after his installation on Thursday.

Del Rosario replaced Lt. Gen. Nicanor Vivar, who retired Thursday after 38 years of military service. Vivar turned 56 Friday.

Gen. Ricardo Visaya, the Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, presided over the change of command.

Visaya said their role is to support the drive against illegal drugs.

He said a task force was created in the AFP to help police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Law enforcers can also tap the military for additional forces when they have operations.

“Aside from that, the role of the armed forces is to give intelligence reports, so they can collate the information well,” said Visaya, an underclassman of Vivar.

Two active members of the AFP are being investigated after they were named by President Rodrigo Duterte as drug protectors.

They will be discharged from the service if proven guilty.

Del Rosario thanked Vivar, who is his upperclassman in the Philippine Military Academy, for his guidance and promised to continue the latter’s best practices.

During his stint as Centcom commander in the past year and 11 months, Vivar said they conducted more than 47,000 operations against rebels and other lawless elements.

He said 121 rebels surrendered, while 34 were either killed or arrested during this period.

The Centcom’s engineering unit also helped build infrastructures like roads in remote areas in the Visayas.

Vivar said they were also involved in humanitarian missions in places ravaged by typhoons in the past years. (PNA) FPV/EB/EDS