New AFP Chief of Staff

Image by RTVM 

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte attended the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Change of Command in honor of outgoing acting Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Glorioso V. Miranda and the new AFP Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya on 1 July 2016 at the AFP General Headquarters Grandstand in Camp Aguinaldo.

Lt. Gen. Glorioso V. Miranda was former Commander of Southern Luzon Command (SOLCOM) in 2015, was appointed as Vice Chief of Staff of the AFP in March this year paving the way for his designation as Acting Chief of Staff on 22 April 2016 under former President Benigno S. Aquino III. Both Lt. Gen. Glorioso V. Miranda and Lt. Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya belong to Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Matikas” Class of 1983.

General Ricardo R. Visaya is the 48th Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The new AFP Chief of Staff said that the AFP will be unrelenting in their military operations against terrorist groups. He added, “We will realign military resources to their identified bailiwicks and sanctuaries and apply our military strength to suppress them, hunt them down and finish them.” Lt. Gen. Ricardo R. Visaya vowed to beef up the military capacity of the 130,000-strong AFP.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by former President Fidel V. Ramos and the new Vice President Maria Leonor Gerona Robredo. ●