New Nolcom chief vows to end insurgency in northern, central Luzon
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino presides over the change of command at the Northern Luzon Command from Lt. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr. to Major Gen. Fernyl Buca on Wednesday (jan. 25) in Camp Aquino in Tarlac City. (Photo courtesy of Nolcom)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—Major Gen. Fernyl Buca on Wednesday (Jan. 25) assumed his post as chief of the Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines based in Camp Aquino in Tarlac City.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Andres Centino installed Buca, who replaced Lt. Gen. Ernesto Torres Jr. upon the latter’s mandatory retirement at age 56.
Buca was a former AFP deputy chief of staff for logistics and Philippine Air Force inspector general, according to a Nolcom statement.
In a program following the change of command, Buca vowed to “vigorously sustain the momentum set [by Torres] to decimate the remaining communist terrorists and ensure the peace, security, and development in the north and central Luzon.”
A total of 411 communist rebels or supporters died in clashes, arrested or surrendered, recovering 170 firearms from them in a year under Torres since 2022.
