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The Appointments Commission (CA) confirmed on Wednesday the interim appointment of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), General Gilbery Gapay and 29 other senior military officers.
The CA also approved the promotion of Lieutenant General Franco Nemesio Gacal, Lieutenant General José Faustino Jr., Major General Gilbert Saret, Major General Alfredo Rosario Jr., Colonel Stephen Cabanlet and 25 other mid-level. AFP officials.
Gapay, a member of the 1986 class of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA), has assured members of the bicameral panel that the AFP has no intention of regulating social media.
He said the Armed Forces support the independent foreign policy of the Duterte administration or are “friends of all, enemies of no one.”
He told lawmakers that the development of the Army Aviation Regiment into a Philippine Army force that could be deployed anywhere is in full swing.
“As the battlefield becomes more complicated and intricate, the more we need capabilities like an aviation unit for the Philippine military,” said the AFP chief.
Senator Francis Tolentino said AFP was scheduled to receive four Black Hawk helicopters and four Cobra helicopters from the United States that would help increase the air defense capability of the Army Aviation Regiment.
Tolentino urged Gapay to continue with the establishment of runways for the Army Aviation Regiment on Kalayaan Island and near Fuga Island.
“AFP is identifying runways across the country where we could put detachments not only for the Army but also for the Philippine Air Force,” Gapay said.
Senator Panfilo Lacson, chairman of the CA National Defense Committee, said Gapay graduated at the top of his class and garnered the most awards during his graduation rites, “giving him notoriety as the most decorated cadet in history. of the PMA. . “
