Duterte installs new military chief

 Former army chief Lt Gen Eduardo Ano has taken over as the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, replacing General Ricardo Visaya, who left the service after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Ano, 55, was formally appointed by President Rodrigo Duterte as the new head of the 120,000-strong in ceremonies at the Malacanan Palace in Manila.

Ano and Visaya both graduated from the Philippine Military Academy in 1983, during the final years of the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos Sr.

Marcos was ousted by a popular uprising in February 1986.

Before his appointment as the new chief of staff and head of the army, Ano served in key command positions in the military, most recently, as commander of the Philippine army’s 10th Infantry Division based in Davao Region

As head of the 10th Infantry “Agila” (Eagle) Division, whose area of operation included the provinces of Davao, Davao City and Compostella Valley and parts of the Soccksargen region, Ano’s unit took on the communist New Peoples’ Army (NPA), which is active in the area.

The 10th Infantry Division was responsible for the killing of Leoncio Pitao, aka “Commander Parago” an insurgent leader who carried out guerrilla attacks and conducted sabotage activities against businesses, such as agricultural plantations and mining concessions operating in the region.

Apart from being a top military commander, Ano is known as a seasoned intelligence officer. He also led the Intelligence Service, Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

He studied at the Israel Counter Terrorism Centre (2002) and the International Officer Intelligence Course at the US Army Intelligence Centre in Fort Huachuca, Arizona with a perfect rating of 100 per cent (1993).

He was also a graduate of the Scout Ranger Course.

As a military intelligence officer, Ano played a role in the capture of fugitive former army general Palparan who was accused of kidnapping two activists from the University of the Philippines.

Ano is set to retire on October 26, 2017.

He has been accused by left-wing groups in the abduction of activist Jonas Burgos, a peasant organiser and suspected member of the NPA. Court hearings conducted on the matter absolved Ano of having a hand in the alleged abduction

source : gulfnews