Maclang named new AFP Nolcom commander

Army 5th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Rodrigo Maclang has been designated as the new commanding general of the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command vice Lt. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos who ended his military career Wednesday weeks ahead of his mandatory retirement date. Ramos turns 56 on August 30, the mandatory retirement age for military personnel. Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon presided over the turnover at the Nolcom headquarters in Tarlac City. A member of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1976, Maclang also served as commander of the 8th Infantry Division based in Western Samar, where he concentrated on battling communist insurgents. During the botched Feb. 24 coup last year, Maclang was then the AFP deputy chief of staff. He accompanied the alleged coup leaders - Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Col. Ariel Querubin to then Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga to inform the AFP chief of their plan. Lim and Querubin were later ordered detained, preempting their plan to march to the Edsa Shrine and subsequently withdraw their support from President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The two officers, along other officers, are facing court martial procedure. He also served as commander of the Light Armor Brigade, when the unit was still known as the Light Armor Battalion. Reached for comments, Maclang said he would see to it that all five brigades under Nolcom would work to dismantle an NPA (New People’s Army) front guerilla unit in their respective areas of operation before the year ends. "So far, the prospects are bright for its attainment…continuing the campaign plan of my predecessor would not be difficult since I participated in its formulation," he said. - GMANews.TV