Brigadier Gen. Wilbur Mamawag was named acting commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division (ID). Photo Courtesy of Philippine Army Facebook Page
TACLOBAN CITY––Eastern Visayas has a new top military official.
Brigadier Gen. Wilbur Mamawag was named acting commanding officer of the 8th Infantry Division (ID) in simple rites at the division’s Camp Vicente Lukban headquarter in Catbalogan City, Samar.
He will replace Major Gen. Pio Diñoso III, who retired from service effective Oct. 9.
The ceremony was presided by Lt. Gen. Andres Centino, the commanding officer of the Philippine Army, with Gen. Jose Faustino, the Armed Forces of the Philippines chief-of-staff, sending a video message.
Diñoso assumed the post as the commanding officer of the division on July 5, 2019.
Mamawag was Dinoso’s deputy before being named the new 8th ID commanding general.
Government soldiers scored one of their victories in the fight against the New People’s Army (NPA) during Diñoso’s term.
On Aug. 16, soldiers belonging to the 52nd Infantry Battalion launched an air and ground assault on a bomb-making hideout of the communist rebels in Barangay Osmeña, Dolores town, Eastern Samar.
The attack, which lasted for 13 hours, resulted in the death of 19 rebels.
Diñoso had vowed to end the region’s insurgency by engaging local governments through the End Local Communist Armed Conflict program.