Esperon says no quarter for NPA

By Anthony Vargas, Reporter

Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, the new Armed Forces chief of staff, on Friday vowed to crush the communist rebellion during his term.

Esperon, former Army chief, became the AFP’s 35th chief of staff. He replaced Gen. Generoso Senga, who retired Friday.

He said he would lead efforts to foil attempts to vilify the AFP as an institution.

The government has a two-year plan to defeat the communist New People’s Army.

President Arroyo, who attended the turnover in Camp Aguinaldo, announced in a speech the splitting of the Southern Command in Mindanao into two divisions “for effective troop management and control.”

She said Senga made the recommendation to transfer an Army division from Southcom to Davao while the other will remain at the command’s Zamboanga City base.

Southcom is the biggest of the five unified commands of the AFP. The command has around 72,000 men, or about 60 percent of the AFP’s total strength.

Esperon said Southcom is strategic because of the “strong presence” of secessionist movements in its area. “On the western side we have Islamic terrorists and on the other side is the communist terrorists,” he said.

The leftist New People’s Army operates in the easternmost side of Mindanao, while the central and western side is a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf, Jemaah Islamiah and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels.

Senga said the division of Southcom would take effect on the first week of August.

Esperon also revealed the reshuffling of military ground commanders.

Maj. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos, commander of the Army’s 8th Infantry Division, will take over the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom).

Ramos will replace Lt. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, who was appointed commander of the 75,000-strong Army.

Maj. Gen. Alexander Yano, commander of the 2nd Infantry Division, will replace Lt. Gen. Pedro Cabuay, who will retire at the end of the month as commander of the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom).

Maj. Gen. Cardoso Luna, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, will head the Central Command, replacing Lt. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, who will retire on September 9.

Mrs. Arroyo praised Senga for foiling the February 24 coup against her administration.

Senga and Esperon played major roles in thwarting the failed coup against the President.

The 54-year Esperon is the eighth AFP chief of staff under the Arroyo administration. He is due to retire on February 9, 2008.

Esperon is one of four military officers implicated in the “Hello, Garci” wiretapping controversy, an alleged plot to rig the results of the 2004 elections in favor of President Arroyo.

The controversy centered around taped conversations between the President and an election commissioner widely believed to be Virgilio Garcillano.

The wiretapping issue was one of the bases of the opposition to file an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo last year.

Before being appointed AFP chief, Esperon was Army chief for 11 months. He also commanded the Special Operations Command, an elite force made up of troops from the Scout Rangers and Light Reaction Companies and Special Forces Airborne.

Esperon also commanded the Presidential Security Group, several infantry brigades and divisions in Luzon and in Mindanao that fought leftist rebels and Islamic militants.

He received the Presidential Medal of Merit, Legion of Honor, four Gold Cross Medals and two bronze medals for bravery for fighting insurgents in Luzon and Mindanao.

The President was all praises for Senga, thanking him for thwarting the attempt of some “misguided” troops to topple her government.

“I give General Senga credit for containing, then neutralizing and finally demolishing the infamous February coup. Thank you very much,” she said.

Senga was AFP chief of staff for eight months.

The President also commended the military and police for recapturing six members of the Magdaló group, which staged the first recorded military uprising against the Arroyo administration in 2003.

One of Senga’s final acts as military chief was to direct the Judge Advocate General’s Office to prepare the pretrial investigation of 160 officers and men allegedly involved in the foiled coup attempt.

Among those facing court-martial were Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim and Col. Ariel Querubin.

Miranda was sacked as commandant of the Marines, Querubin lost his command of a Marine brigade and Lim was stripped of his post as commander of the 1st Scout Ranger Regiment after being implicated in an alleged Left-Right plot against Mrs. Arroyo on February 24.