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Thursday, December 29, 2005
Early jockeying by Southcom top post aspirants noted
A FEW days before the Southern Command chief retires, aspirants for the post are already jockeying to be named as the next Southcom commander.
A Southcom insider said Wednesday that though a dark-horse might be picked by President Arroyo in place of Southcom commander Lt. General Edilberto Adan, who is due to retire on January 11, next year, similar to what happened in the last turn-over of command, the front-liners are the following: Major General Carduso Luna, 4th Army Infantry Division commander based in Cagayan de Oro; Major General Gabriel Habacon, Ist' Tabak Army Infantry Division commander based in Labangan, Zamboanga del Sur, and the retiring Major General Agustin Dimaala, who keeps his post as the 6th Army Infantry Division commander based in Awang, Cotabato City.
"Sila ang posibleng maging Southcom commander after General Adan bows out of the military service by January 11 upon reaching the retirement age of 56," a source said.
But, like what happened to then Major General Samuel Bagasin, an official not in the list might again pull off a surprise, critics said.
Although, the Board of Generals highly recommends a probable successor to a major branch in the AFP service, like Southcom, still the President, as commander-in-chief, has the final say in decision-making for the armed forces.
When General Adan assumed command last September 10 upon the retirement of his predecessor Lt. General Alberto Braganza, he drew wide criticisms from several sectors, including some retired and active generals. His midnight appointment by the President came as a big surprise, as the Board of Generals strongly recommended General Bagasin, Adan's junior, as Braganza's sure replacement.
Bagasin arrived in the city ready to take over as the 27th Southcom commander accompanied by his family and his parents who came all the way from United States to witness his assumption of command of AFP's biggest military unit, only to find out at the last hour that another General was named by their Commander-in-Chief.
Bagasin was, however, given the rank of a Lt. General and was promoted as Vice Chief of Staff. His post here in Mindanao was assigned to Major General Luna.
General Adan is racing against time, as he is said to meet the high expectation of his Commander-in-Chief in finally nailing down the elusive Abu Sayyaf overall chieftain, Khadaffy Janjalani.
Adan managed to neutralize scores of Janjalani's known comrades and allies, including Rajah Solaiman Movement leader Hilarion Ahmad Santos III, and the capture of six ASG camps in Sulu during a series of skirmishes engaged by soldiers with the Al Qaeda-linked radical group last November. But, he has yet to track down Janjalani whom he last reported to be getting closer to his Southcom Headquarters, as he was spotted to be somewhere in Basilan, where he returned last October after his lairs were raided by both government troops and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MELF) fighters.
Janjalani carries a bounty of $5 million put up by the United States government and P10 million as the Philippine government's counterpart.
The Philippine government and the MILF are presently locked in peace talks in a bid to end the more than three-decade Moro rebellion in Southern Philippines.
(December 29, 2005 issue)
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