Eastmincom chief is next Army chief

Maj. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr., the military commander of Davao City-based Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom), is the next Philippine Army chief.

In a memorandum dated Feb. 11, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea informed Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana and Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, that Malacañang has approved their recommendation to designate Faustino as acting commanding general of the Army.

Faustino succeeds Sobejana, who was appointed as the eighth AFP chief. Faustino is a member of the Philippine Military Academy Maringal Class of 1988. —Dexter Cabalza