Romeo Brawner Jr. named Army chief; Anthony Canlas appointed as Air Force head

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed new heads of the Philippine Army and the Philippine Air Force.

Duterte tapped Major General Romeo Brawner Jr. on Tuesday to lead the Army. Major General Connor Anthony Canlas, meanwhile, was appointed as Air Force chief.

Brawner succeeded now Armed Forces chief Lieutenant General Andres Centino while Canlas replaced Lieutenant General Allen Paredes who reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 on Tuesday.

"We wish General Brawner all the best in his new assignment, and are confident that General Brawner will continue the reform initiatives his predecessors pursued in order to transform the largest branch of the Armed Forces of the Philippines into a more dynamic and more professional organization true to its mandate to serve our people and secure our nation," acting presidential spokesperson Karlo Nograles said in a statement. 

Prior to becoming Army chief, Brawner and his family somehow cheated death in July this year.

Brawner and his family boarded the C-130 plane, which brought them to Cagayan de Oro before it crashed in Patikul, Sulu on July 4. The accident killed more than 50 people, mostly soldiers. 

"Para sa akin panibagong buhay ito [For me this is a new chance in life]. It was a close call," Brawner, then commander of the Army's 4th Infantry Division, told Super Radyo dzBB on July 7.  — VBL, GMA News