Marcos: Centino appointment permanent solution to military disgruntlement

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. said he sees the reappointment of General Andres Centino as Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff as the permanent solution to the unrest within the military due to issues over rank.

In an interview with reporters in Zurich, Switzerland on Friday, the chief executive was asked how he intended to constantly deal with discontentment in the military, as his appointment of Centino and Eduardo Año as the new National Security Adviser (NSA) may only temporarily quell the issue.

“I think that’s what exactly what we have done. We have dealt with the problem permanently,” said Marcos.

“In what I refer to as rationalizing the seniority within the officer corps, what we did was the solution to the problem that was the disgruntlement that was going on in the ranks.”

The President added that he consulted the move with the AFP.

“This is the way we were told that we could fix it. So that’s what we’ve done,” he said.

On Sunday, Marcos explained he was rationalizing seniority in the military by appointing Centino who has four stars, in replacement of his previous appointee Lieutenant General Bartolome Bacarro who had three stars.

The appointment of Centino back as AFP chief prompted Defense Department officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. to resign, saying he was not formally informed about the matter. 

Faustino has since been replaced by Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr.

Galvez on Tuesday admitted that there were rumblings within the military due to the "unintended consequences" of Republic Act 11709, which grants a three-year fixed term for key AFP officials, including the chief of staff.

With this, the new Defense Secretary said they are planning to resolve the unrest within the AFP on or before the end of 2023's first quarter. — DVM, GMA Integrated News