After
I wonder if this recent leadership shake up In the Philippines Military is maybe tangentially related to that American strategy. As soon as President Marcos Jr. came back from his state visit to China, he sacked/replaced the now former AFP Chief of Staff after having only served on this role and was appointed by Marcos Jr. himself 5 months or so ago. The replacement officer is the same officer who was replaced by the now outgoing and replaced officer. Kind of confusing decision. But there has been a strong and persistent rumour alleging that there's a "destabilization plot" a.k.a. MILITARY Coup against Marcos Jr.
The question to be aske here is why? What would be the motivation of that country's Armed Forces to militarily oust the recently elected President and with the biggest mandate at that, having been elected by the most votes in the history of that island country. I can't help but be suspicious of a strong pro-American faction within the Armed forces of the Philippines. Since most of their top officers go to the U.S. military educational and training institutions during their formative years, and must have been groomed, targeted by American intelligence organization as their assets to be used in a just in case scenarios.
The person speaking on the video linked above is a former Senator, a former AFP Chief who loves to call for his fellow military officers to be apolitical at all times and yet this man never seem to shy away from making political comments and intrigues especially with respect to the current President and against Duterte. I was watching this same person on a different video on youtube but could not seem to find that anymore in which he was essentially suggesting and hinting that maybe there's more than meets the eye with regards to the decision to replace a newly minted with the one who was just himself replaced.
@ansy1968 What's going on with your country bud.
Cross post from SCS Thread.
Bro an insight, it is much ado over nothing.
There is a new law retroactively said that the new AFP chief of staff will serve for 3 years instead of a rotating door policy of new appointees serving only a year. There is an administration gaffe Since the former Chief of staff is due to retire this Feb 4 2023 ( the new law will only apply on this year appointment since he was appointed last year) and the law stated that there will only one 4 star general serving, so they have to recalled the new appointment until he retire. It's embarrassing and it shows the weakness of Marcos decision making and the people he appoints, right now he is enjoying a honeymoon with the press BUT I for one are not impress, with only 6 months on the job instead of focusing on his job, he created a lot of bureaucratic layers instead of clear state policy.
Game of the generals?
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- The Philippine Star
January 10, 2023 | 12:00am
President Bongbong Marcos reappointed Gen. Andres Centino as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
This places Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro in a highly embarrassing situation.
This is the first time in the history of the AFP that a former chief of staff replaced the general who replaced him.
The President appointed Bacarro AFP chief, replacing Centino, in August 2022.
Why did Junior oust Bacarro, whom he appointed as Centino’s replacement, and re-install the latter? Read on to find out.
It seems Junior still has to master the skills his father, Ferdinand Sr., had for decisive leadership.
* * *
Centino’s reappointment as AFP chief set off rumors of demoralization among the AFP’s officer corps and rank-and-file soldiers.
A very reliable source said Gen. Rodolfo Azurin, Philippine National Police chief, ordered all PNP units on red alert following the reported mass resignation of
Defense Secretary Jose Faustino Jr., other defense personnel and military officers.
“Require 100 percent presence (of all PNP personnel) and monitor movements of AFP troops and prepare DMR (digital mobile radio) and tactical radio communication network... con-duct simex (simulation exercises) on CP defense plan in communications network,” Azurin’s orders to his men supposedly read.
Another order from Azurin was for the PNP’s elite unit, the Special Action Force (SAF), to be on “war” footing due to AFP troop movements.
But what did all that mean? Well, a repeat of the 1989 mutiny may happen. That was when rebel troops nearly toppled president Cory Aquino’s government by a hair’s breadth.
The timely interference of the US Air Force F-4 (Phantom) jets based in Clark Air Base, which buzzed antiquated Philippine Air Force jets about to bomb Malacañang, saved the day.
Here was how the order from the PNP high command in Camp Crame read:
“All SAF units are to stay in FULL ALERT due to destabilization movements from the AFP.
“In this regard, all Battalion Commanders are directed to hold all leaves and passes for the meantime and conduct regular accounting to your respective personnel.
“Further, let’s ensure the operational readiness of our personnel and equipment (move/shoot/communicate) particularly in dealing with the said situation when the need arises, and be ready to move upon the orders of proper authorities.”
Let’s pray a shooting war doesn’t erupt between the PNP and the AFP.
Should that happen – heaven forbid – the PNP will be clobbered.
Only the SAF, the PNP’s commando group, would be able to stand up to the AFP. But the SAF is a small unit compared to the entire AFP, and its members wouldn’t obey their officers, undisciplined as most of them are.
* * *
How serious is the present situation?
As it is, neither President Junior nor Defense Secretary Jose Faustino, a retired Army general, attended the unconventional change of command from Bartolome Bacarro to Andres Cen-tino.
President Rodrigo Duterte appointed Centino. He was set to retire on Feb. 4, 2023.
But President Junior cut short Centino’s stint by replacing him with Bacarro, who would have been the first beneficiary of
a new law (Republic Act 11709) president
Duterte signed, which provides a three-year term for the AFP chief of staff.
The reinstatement of Centino as AFP chief of staff, which was never done before, was apparently meant to correct an egregious blunder on the part of President BBM. Before this, Cen-tino had a pending nomination to become the Philippine Ambassador to India and Nepal.
This caused demoralization among the troops. Bacarro is a highly respected officer because he is a Medal of Valor awardee.
The Medal of Valor is the highest award the AFP can give a military man. It is the equivalent of the Congressional Medal of Honor of the United States Armed Forces.
There have been only 41 Medal of Valor recipients since 1935. Seventeen of them are still alive, among them Bacarro.
