Gen. Andres Centino, Armed Forces chief of staff, shakes hands with President Marcos, who left for Davos, Switzerland, from Villamor Air Base on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, to attend the World Economic Forum. (MALACAÑANG PHOTO
ZURICH — Appointing Gen. Andres Centino as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is a way to fix a seniority issue and boost the morale of the country’s military organization, President Ferdinand Marcos said on Sunday.
The recent appointment of Centino, replacing Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro, confused some people, including Clarita Carlos, who has just resigned as the national security adviser.
“We are rationalizing seniority [in the AFP]. Andy Centino has four stars and Bob Bacarro has three starts,” Marcos said, speaking in Filipino, in a brief huddle with journalists aboard the presidential plane en route to Switzerland where he will attend the World Economic Forum.
“So we need to fix that because it will create trouble in the bottom ranks,” he said.
The president cited chatter about lower-ranking military officers losing hope of being promoted if the seniority succession would not be fixed.
“That’s not right. It will bring down their morale,” he said.
