CA approves Sobejana's nomination to rank of general

The Commission on Appointments (CA) on Wednesday approved the nomination of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana to the rank of general.

Along with the approval of Sobejana's nomination, the body likewise approved the nomination and ad interim appointments of 32 other senior officers of the military.

The CA previously deferred the confirmation of these nominations and appointments after Senator Panfilo Lacson asked Sobejana to address the issues on the designation of Lieutenant General Jose Faustino Jr. as the acting commanding general of the Philippine Army.

Lacson had pointed out that Faustino could not be designated to the position as he only has one year left in service, in violation of Section 4 of Republic Act 8681.

The said provision states that no officer should be assigned or designated to key positions in the military if he has less than one year of active service remaining.

During the CA national defense panel hearing, Sobejana confirmed that this issue has already been sorted out.

"I convened the Board of Generals and recalibrated the designation. We did it according to law. We submitted our recommendation to the Secretary of National Defense to that effect," he said.

Sobejana was also asked by Senator Risa Hontiveros during the CA panel hearing about the military's response to the reported presence of 220 Chinese militia vessels near Julian Felipe reef in the West Philippine Sea.

The AFP on Monday said that over 183 Chinese militia vessels remained moored off Juan Felipe Reef.

Sobejana, in response to Hontiveros, said he directed the Philippine Navy to deploy additional naval assets to the area to increase visibility and ensure the security of fishermen and of the country's marine resources.

"We do not tolerate incursions of our territorial waters from anybody. We stand and uphold our mandates," he said.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has already filed a diplomatic protest against China over presence of the militia vessels off the reef, which is part of the country's 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone. —KBK, GMA News