Gapay takes over as new Army chief

Lieutenant General Gilbert Gapay formally assumed on Friday his post as the new commanding general of the the Philippine Army.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana graced the change of command ceremony at the Ricarte Hall of the Army’s headquarters, in which Gapay replaced his mistah, Lieutenant General Macairog Alberto.

General Noel Clement, chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was also present in the turnover ceremony.

In his speech, Lorenzana expressed confidence that Gapay would be an excellent leader to the 98,000-strong Philippine Army.

The Defense chief also challenged the new Army chief to put an end to the communist insurgency problem.

“As General Gapay assumes command of the Philippine Army, I think he is in the position to perform better because we have crafted a winning strategy against the CPP-NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army),” Lorenzana said.

For his part, Gapay emphasized that the military has gained significant accomplishments when it comes to fighting communist groups.

“Our infantry divisions, brigades and army battalions are in the frontline of this marching order of the President,” Gapay said.

“We have a good chance of really ending this by 2022,” he added.

Prior to his new appointment, Gapay, who belongs to the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1986, served as the chief of the Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM).

Gapay also served as the commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division in which he had championed the development of armor, aviation, air defense and cyber security capabilities of the Philippine Army.

Gapay also became the deputy commander of the Eastern Mindanao Command and concurrent commander of the Joint Task Force Haribon in December 2016.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines described Gapay as a well-rounded general officer who has excelled in the domains of operations, training as well as resource management. — RSJ, GMA News