A SCOUT Ranger officer had been designated as commanding general of the National Capital Region Command (NCRCom), the anti-coup force of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Metro Manila.

Major General Reynaldo Mapagu formally assumed the post in rites presided by Armed Forces chief Victor Ibrado at the grandstand of the NCRcom inside Camp Aguinaldo.

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A member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1978, Mapagu replaced Major General Jogy Leo Fojas, a member of the PMA class 1976 who has reached the mandatory retirement age of 56.

It was not immediately clear who will take over the post of Mapagu as commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division in Davao City although talks are rife that his PMA classmate, AFP deputy chief of staff Major General Carlos Holganza, will be taking his place.

Before he was named 10th ID chief about a year ago, Mapagu was the No. 3 man of the Philippine Army.

In February 2006, he assumed the elite First Scout Ranger Regiment of the Army, replacing Brigadier General Danilo Lim after he was linked to a plot to overthrow the Arroyo government.

The NCRcom is considered a sensitive post, it being the defender of the seat of government. It was re-established shortly after the July 2003 Oakwood mutiny mounted by the mutinous Magdalo Group.

In November 2007, the NCRcom played the crucial role in thwarting the Manila Peninsula Hotel siege in Makati that was led by Lim and Oakwood mutiny leader, now Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

When asked who will be replacing Mapagu at the 10th ID, Ibrado said they have already made a recommendation to the President.

“We already submitted our recommendation. We cannot disclose it unless its approved. There are times when changes are made. It’s a matter of policy that we don’t announce it unless it is already approved by the President,” he said. (VR/Sunnex)