Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines
| Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the Armed Forces of the Philippines | |
 Flag of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines | |
| Reports to | Secretary of National Defense President of the Philippines |
| Seat | Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City |
| Appointer | The President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments |
| Term length | Mandatory retirement at age 56,[1] but can be extended by three years |
| Constituting instrument | Republic Act No. 8186[2][3] |
| Formation | December 21, 1935 |
| First holder | |
| Unofficial names | Chairman of the Joint Chiefs |
| Deputy | Vice Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Assistant) The Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Administrative and Organizational Duties) |
| Website | Philippine Armed Forces |
The Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (CSAFP) is the highest-ranking military officer (except for the President of the Philippines, who holds the position of Commander-in-Chief equivalent to a five-star general) and the head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), including all service branches (Army, Air Force, Navy–Marine Corps, Coast Guard—in Wartime Attached Service) under its command. The position is usually held by a four-star rank of General or Admiral. Its direct equivalent in the US Armed Forces is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Unlike its US counterpart, which is merely supervisory, the Chief of Staff has complete operational control and is responsible for the overall operations of the AFP.
The holder of this position is appointed by, as well as directly reports to the President of the Philippines under the Article VII, Section 18 of the 1987 Constitution.[4] He executes the President's commands, tactics, operations, plannings, and strategies, as well as serves as the Immediate Adviser to the Secretary of National Defense. He also prescribes directions to all commands (including the Chief of the Army, the Chief of the Air Force, the Chief of the Navy, the Joint Forces Commanders of the AFP Unified Commands, and the AFP Board of Generals).
The Armed Forces of the Philippines were created as a result of the Commonwealth Act No. 1, also known as the National Defense Act of 1935. However, the origin of the organization can be traced back to the establishment of the Philippine Constabulary, armed Filipino forces organized in 1901 by the United States to combat the Philippine Revolutionary Army then led by General Emilio Aguinaldo.
History[]
The position of the Chief of Staff has been traced from the Commanding General of the Philippine Army, when the Philippine Commonwealth Army (now the Philippine Army) was established as the main army of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. After the defeat of the First Philippine Republic during the Philippine–American War, the United States dissolved the army and relied on its armed forces together with some Filipino troops under the Philippine Constabulary. However, the National Defense Act of 1935 led to take on responsibilities on national defense and pave way for the creation of three major commands (Army, Air Force, Navy). Since the 1960s, the rosters of the Chiefs of Staff is arranged accordingly.[5]
On June 19, 2020, under the DND Order no. 174, the title of Chief of Staff was renamed as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, while the Vice Chief of Staff as Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and the Deputy Chief of Staff as Chief of the Joint Staff.[6] Although the usage of these titles were deferred.[7]
Organization and term limit[]
The AFP Chief is assisted by the Vice Chief of Staff of the AFP (VCSAFP) and The Deputy Chief of Staff of the AFP (DCSAFP), both holders of the rank of Lieutenant General/Vice Admiral. The Vice Chief of Staff serves as the primary assistant of the AFP Chief in their operational duties, as well as in policy conceptualization and implementation matters in the AFP, and also assists the AFP Chief in their absence. The Deputy Chief of Staff (DCSAFP) is tasked to supervise the organizational staff, including the Joint Staff, the Special Staff, the Administrative and the Technical Staff. The Deputy Chief is also responsible for assisting the AFP's overall policy and strategy formations, and perform other duties assigned by the AFP Chief. These posts are also assisted by the Secretary of the Joint Staff (SJSAFP), who serves as the executive officer for the AFP Chief, the Vice Chief of Staff, and the Deputy Chief of Staff. [8] [9] The AFP Chief is also advised on enlisted personnel matters by the Armed Forces of the Philippines Sergeant Major (AFPSM).
The AFP Chief has no definite or fixed term limit, as the current term limit of the AFP Chief, along with all uniformed members of the AFP, has a mandatory retirement age at 56 years old. Nevertheless, the AFP Chief's term can be extended and allows a flexible term while serving beyond the mandatory retirement age, as the AFP Chief can serve their post until 3 years. Plans to reform the current system were made in 2011, but was vetoed by then-President Benigno Aquino III. An updated bill is currently being crafted since 2020, which aims to create a fixed term of 3 years for the AFP Chief, the Vice Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, the commanders of the three major services (Army, Navy, Air Force), the commanders of the unified commands (NOLCOM, SOLCOM, WESCOM, CENTCOM, WESTMINCOM, EASTMINCOM), the commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps, the commander of the AFP Special Operations Command, and the commander of the upcoming Cyber Security Command; while the Superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) will have a 4-year term in their post. The proposed law aims to increase the flexibility, organizational professionalism and effectiveness in their respective roles. [10] [11]
Officeholders[]
| No. | Portrait | Chief of Staff | Took office | Left office | Time in office | Service branch | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Major General | December 21, 1935 | May 6, 1936 | 137 days |  Philippine Army | ||
| 2 | Major General Paulino Santos (1890–1945) | May 6, 1936 | December 31, 1938 | 2 years, 239 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 3 | Major General Basilio Valdes (1892–1970) | January 1, 1939 | November 7, 1945 | 6 years, 310 days |  Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 4 | Major General Rafael Jalandoni | December 21, 1945 | December 20, 1948 | 2 years, 365 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 5 | Major General Mariano Castañeda (1892–1970) | December 21, 1948 | May 28, 1951 | 2 years, 158 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 6 | Major General | June 2, 1951 | December 30, 1953 | 2 years, 211 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 7 | Lieutenant General Jesus Vargas | December 30, 1953 | December 29, 1956 | 2 years, 365 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 8 | Lieutenant General | December 29, 1956 | December 31, 1958 | 2 years, 2 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 9 | Lieutenant General | January 1, 1959 | December 30, 1961 | 2 years, 363 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 10 | Lieutenant General Pelagio Cruz (1912–1986) | December 30, 1961 | August 31, 1962 | 244 days |  Philippine Air Force | ||
| 11 | General Alfredo Santos (1905–1990) | September 1, 1962 | July 12, 1965 | 2 years, 314 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 12 | General | July 13, 1965 | January 22, 1966 | 193 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 13 | General Ernesto Mata (1915–2012) | January 22, 1966 | January 21, 1967 | 364 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 14 | General | January 21, 1967 | August 15, 1967 | 206 days | Philippine Air Force | ||
| 15 | General Segundo Velasco | August 15, 1967 | May 27, 1968 | 286 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 16 | General Manuel Yan (1920–2008) [a] | May 28, 1968 | January 15, 1972 | 3 years, 232 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 17 | General [b] | January 15, 1972 | August 15, 1981 | 9 years, 212 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 18 | General Fabian Ver (1920–1998) [c] | August 15, 1981 December 2, 1985 | October 24, 1984 February 25, 1986 | 3 years, 70 days 85 days |  Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 19 | General Fidel Ramos (born 1928) [d] | October 24, 1984 February 25, 1986 | December 2, 1985 January 23, 1988 | 1 year, 39 days 1 year, 332 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 20 | General Renato de Villa (born 1935) [e] | January 25, 1988 | January 23, 1991 | 2 years, 363 days | Philippine Constabulary | ||
| 21 | General Rodolfo Biazon (born 1935) [f] | January 24, 1991 | April 12, 1991 | 78 days |  Philippine Marine Corps | ||
| 22 | General | April 12, 1991 | April 12, 1994 | 3 years, 0 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 23 | General Arturo Enrile (1940–1998) [g] | April 15, 1994 | November 28, 1996 | 2 years, 227 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 24 | General Arnulfo Acedera Jr. (1941–2020) | November 28, 1996 | December 18, 1997 | 1 year, 20 days | Philippine Air Force | ||
| 26 | General | December 18, 1997 | June 30, 1998 | 194 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 27 | General [h] | July 1, 1998 | July 8, 1999 | 1 year, 7 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 28 | General Angelo Reyes (1945–2011) [i] | July 8, 1999 | March 17, 2001 | 1 year, 252 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 29 | General | March 17, 2001 | May 18, 2002 | 1 year, 62 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 30 | General Roy Cimatu (born 1946) [j] | May 18, 2002 | September 10, 2002 | 115 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 31 | General | September 10, 2002 | November 28, 2002 | 79 days | Philippine Air Force | ||
| 32 | General [k] | November 28, 2002 | April 8, 2003 | 131 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 34 | General | April 8, 2003 | October 29, 2004 | 1 year, 204 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 35 | General | October 29, 2004 | August 15, 2005 | 290 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 36 | General | August 15, 2005 | July 22, 2006 | 341 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 37 | General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. (born 1952) [l] | July 22, 2006 | May 12, 2008 | 1 year, 295 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 38 | General Alexander Yano [m] | May 12, 2008 | May 1, 2009 | 354 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 39 | General | May 1, 2009 | March 10, 2010 | 313 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 40 | General Delfin Bangit (1955–2013) | March 10, 2010 | June 22, 2010 | 104 days | Philippine Army | ||
| – | Lieutenant General Acting | June 22, 2010 | June 30, 2010 | 8 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 41 | General Ricardo David (born 1955) [n] | July 2, 2010 | March 7, 2011 | 248 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 42 | General Eduardo Oban Jr. (born 1955) | March 7, 2011 | December 12, 2011 | 280 days | Philippine Air Force | ||
| 43 | General Jessie Dellosa (born 1957) | December 12, 2011 | January 20, 2013 | 1 year, 39 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 44 | General Emmanuel Bautista (born 1958) | January 20, 2013 | July 18, 2014 | 1 year, 179 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 45 | General Gregorio Pio Catapang (born 1959) [o] | July 18, 2014 | July 10, 2015 | 357 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 46 | General Hernando Delfin Carmelo A. Iriberri (born 1960) | July 10, 2015 | April 22, 2016 | 287 days | Philippine Army | [12] | |
| – | Lieutenant General Glorioso Miranda (born 1961) Acting | April 22, 2016 | June 30, 2016 | 69 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 47 | General Ricardo Visaya (born 1960) [p] | July 1, 2016 | December 7, 2016 | 159 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 48 | General Eduardo Año (born 1961) [q] | December 7, 2016 | October 26, 2017 | 323 days | Philippine Army | [12] | |
| 49 | General Rey Leonardo Guerrero (born 1961) [r] | October 26, 2017 | April 18, 2018 | 174 days | Philippine Army | [14] | |
| 50 | General Carlito Galvez Jr. (born 1962) [s] | April 18, 2018 | December 11, 2018 | 237 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 51 | General Benjamin Madrigal Jr. (born 1963) [t] | December 11, 2018 | September 24, 2019 | 287 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 52 | General Noel Clement (born 1964) | September 24, 2019 | January 4, 2020 | 102 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 53 | General Felimon Santos Jr. (born 1964) | January 4, 2020 | August 3, 2020 | 212 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 54 | General Gilbert Gapay (born 1965) | August 3, 2020 | February 4, 2021 | 185 days | Philippine Army | ||
| 55 | General Cirilito Sobejana (born 1965) | February 4, 2021 | July 31, 2021 | 177 days | Philippine Army | [15] | |
| 56 | General Jose Faustino Jr. (born 1965) | July 31, 2021 | November 12, 2021 | 104 days | Philippine Army | [15] | |
| 57 | Lieutenant General Andres Centino (born 1967) | November 12, 2021 | Incumbent | 43 days | Philippine Army | [16] [17] |
See also[]
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (Jordan)
- Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (Pakistan)
- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (United States)
Notes[]
- ^ Yan served as the youngest chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines at the age of 48. Prior to that, he was the chief of the Philippine Constabulary. He currently holds the record for longest continuous government service from 1937– 2001 or 64 years of service.
- ^ Espino served as the Commanding General of the Philippine Army before appointed to become the top military man. Espino is the longest-serving Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for nine years, especially during the martial law regime. A second product of the ROTC. During his term, he was fair in administering the military, unlike his successor, General Fabian Ver.
- ^ Ver was considered a loyalist and the second most powerful man in the country next to President Ferdinand Marcos in the later years of his authoritarian regime, replacing then Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile, who held the status since 1972 when Marcos named him as martial law administrator upon the imposition of martial law. Ver, in fact, was the most powerful military officer at that time for, aside from being the top military man, he was also the commander of the Presidential Security Command and the director-general of NISA, the Marcos regime's secret police. The third military officer appointed as chief of staff that came from ROTC. During his term, he was known for his favoritism especially in the promotion of officers.
- ^ Ramos then, before becoming the chief of the now defunct Philippine Constabulary in 1972, he was the commander of Philippine Army's 3rd Division in Cebu. On the 1980s he was promoted into vice-chief of staff with the rank of lieutenant general but remained as PC chief. After the EDSA revolt that ousted Marcos his cousin from power, he became the AFP chief. Later after retiring as AFP chief of staff during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino served as Secretary of National Defense and was elected the 12th President of the Republic of the Philippines in 1992 and served until 1998. He is the 2nd Army General who became the President of the Republic after Gen. Aguinaldo.
- ^ Prior to becoming chief of staff, in 1986, de Villa was named to be the chief of the Philippine Constabulary (now defunct), then an AFP major service acting as the country's police force while he was also named to be AFP vice-chief of staff with the rank of three-star general. Upon retirement, de Villa served as Secretary of National Defense when he retired in 1991 and ran for president but lost to Joseph Estrada and Executive Secretary under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
- ^ Biazon served in the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives after his retirement as AFP chief of staff in 1991. He is the first and only Chief of Staff from the PMC. Prior to that, he served as the commander of the AFP NCR Defense Command in 1988 and Commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps in 1987. He had also served as the superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy in 1986.
- ^ Enrile later served as Secretary of the DOTC under President Fidel Ramos.
- ^ Later served as Ambassador to Pakistan.
- ^ Reyes later served as Secretary of National Defense, Secretary of DILG, Secretary of DENR, and Secretary of DOE under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
- ^ Cimatu later served as Special Envoy to the Middle East. Cimatu served as the Secretary of the DENR under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
- ^ Later served as the director-general of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
- ^ Esperon later served as Presidential Adviser on Peace Process under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Esperon served as National Security Adviser under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
- ^ Yano later served as our country's Ambassador to Brunei.
- ^ David later served as Bureau of Immigration Commissioner under President Benigno Aquino III.
- ^ Later served as Bases Conversion Development Agency Board Member.
- ^ Later served as the Administrator of the National Irrigation Administration (NIA) under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.[13]
- ^ Later served as the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
- ^ Later served as the Administrator of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and later as Commissioner of the Bureau of Customs under President Rodrigo Roa Duterte
- ^ Later served as the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process & later as the Vaccine Czar during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
- ^ Madrigal later served as a member of the governing board of the Philippine Coconut Authority.
References[]
- ^ "Gen. Glorioso Miranda named as acting AFP chief". CNN Philippines. April 22, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ Macas, Trisha (December 7, 2017). "Duterte extends AFP chief Guerrero's term". GMA News Online. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ "REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8186". Chan Robles. Retrieved November 26, 2018.
- ^ "CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES – ARTICLE VII".
- ^ "Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines". Official Gazette.
- ^ Mangosing, Frances (July 13, 2020). "PH military adopting new titles: Chief of staff now Joint Chiefs Chair". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
- ^ "MaxDefense received confirmation that AFP has deferred the use of the new designation names, President has not yet approved the use of these". July 26, 2020.
- ^ "AFP Vice Chief of Staff Collado retires". Manila Bulletin.
- ^ https://m.facebook.com/nt/screen/?params=%7B%22note_id%22%3A377320926969016%7D&path=%2Fnotes%2Fnote%2F&refsrc=deprecated&_rdr. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ "Senate panel tackles fixed term for AFP chief, other top officers". Rappler. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ Lalu, Gabriel Pabico (August 26, 2020). "Gordon wants fixed terms, higher mandatory retirement age for AFP officials". INQUIRER.net. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
- ^ a b "Rebel hunter Año is new AFP chief". Rappler. December 7, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
- ^ "Duterte leads AFP change of command rites". Sun.Star Manila. July 1, 2016. Retrieved July 1, 2016.
- ^ "Hello, goodbye, General Guerrero". Philippine Daily Inquirer. December 7, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ a b "Sobejana bows out of military service; Faustino assumes post - UNTV News". UNTV News. July 31, 2021.
- ^ Mangosing, Frances (November 12, 2021). "Army chief Centino to assume command as new AFP chief". INQUIRER.net.
- ^ "Army commander Andres Centino is new AFP chief". cnn.
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