CA confirms AFP chief Santos, Navy’s first female commodore Camacho

The Commission on Appointments confirmed Wednesday the ad interim appointments of Armed Forces chief of staff Felimon Santos Jr. and Navy Commodore Luzviminda Camacho.

The members of the CA national defense committee asked Santos a number of questions including the abrogation of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), while none was hurled at Camacho. No one objected to their confirmation.

Santos was the head of the Eastern Mindanao Command prior his appointment to the topmost military post.

He is a member of Philippine Military Academy Sinagtala Class of 1986 and spent most of his junior years with the 39th Infantry Battalion, a unit deployed in various provinces in Mindanao.

He also once headed the 11th Intelligence Service Unit based in Davao City, hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Santos previously held the positions of Chief of Operations of Central Command in Visayas; 703rd Infantry Brigade Commander in Central Luzon; Battalion Commander of 63rd Infantry Battalion in Samar Province; and Assistant Division Commander of 6th Infantry Division, Philippine Army in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Awang Maguindanao.

He was the former commander of the 7th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army based in Fort Ramon Magsaysay, Nueva Ecija.

Camacho, on the other hand, is the first female commodore of the Navy.

In her co-sponsorship speech, Senator Grace Poe said Camacho was also the first woman to command a Navy ship and the first female commander of Philippine peacekeepers deployed to the United Nations.

“Clearly, Commodore Camacho has paved the way in her field before we were even privileged to meet her. Hers is a story of pure grit. Ang kaniyang kwento ay hindi nalalayo sa karamihan ng mga babaeng tahimik ngunit masigasig na nagtatrabaho upang umangat sa kanya-kanyang larangan. Ang kanyang tagumpay ay tagumpay nating lahat,” the senator said.

She said that more than the grant of the title, the appointment signifies bigger and better things to come for the AFP.

“Putting the right leaders at its helm is only the start of better capacitating our Navy in these uncertain times. I have no doubt that we are nearer to this goal with the appointment of Commodore Camacho,” she said.

Poe added that the rise of female leaders in the AFP will lead to a new era of feminine values which will ultimately redound to the benefit of the nation. — BM, GMA News