AFP chief Santos gets 4th star

AFP chief Lt. Gen. Felimon Santos Jr. gets promoted to a rank of general on Monday, January 27, 2020. /AFP PAO

MANILA, Philippines — Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Felimon Santos Jr. has been promoted from Lt. General to General, around three weeks after assuming the military’s top post.

He received his fourth star from Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at the Department of National Defense headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, on Monday, said AFP public affairs chief Captain Jonathan Zata in a statement.

He took over the AFP leadership on Jan. 4 and his ad interim appointment was approved on Jan. 14. Santos is scheduled to retire on August 3 this year when he reaches the compulsory retirement age of 56.

Senior military officers led by AFP vice chief of staff Vice Admiral Gaudencio Collado Jr. were present at the donning-of-rank ceremony.

Military honors were accorded to the AFP chief at the General Headquarters canopy after the donning ceremony, Zata said.

During his term as AFP chief, the veteran intelligence officer Santos said he would focus on ending local armed conflict.

Edited by KGA