Alano named next Navy chief

President Aquino has designated Vice Admiral Jose Luis Alano as the Navy’s new flag officer in command.

Alano will take over the top Navy post from retiring Navy chief Vice Admiral Alexander Pama on Dec. 21, said Undersecretary Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson. Pama will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 on that day.

A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1979, Alano has served in several positions in the Navy.

He has received several awards, including Distinguished Service Star, Command at Sea Plaque, Military Medal Awards, PN Surface Warfare Operation Badge, Presidential Unit Citation Badge, and Mindanao-Sulu Campaign Medal and Ribbon.

The President said he has yet to interview a replacement for embattled Coast Guard chief Vice Admiral Edmund Tan given the massive rescue operations for survivors of Typhoon “Pablo” in Mindanao.

“I think it’s more important for them to focus on the rescue operations than on the change of command,” he told reporters.

Tan will retire on Dec. 16 while serving a 90-day preventive suspension ordered by the Sandiganbayan over a 2009 graft case filed against him.  Tan has denied the charges.