Ex-ceasefire chief to head Army division in Central Mindanao

Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez. FRANCES MANGOSING/INQUIRER.net

DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—A military officer who served as ceasefire mechanism chairman during the Mamasapano massacre in 2015 will be installed as commanding officer of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division (6ID) based here.

Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez, deputy chief of staff for operations, will assume his new post on Monday in turnover rites to be presided by Army chief Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año.

Galvez, a member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1985, will replace Maj. Gen. Edmundo Pangilinan, who assumed his new position as Army’s vice commander last week.

The incoming commander of the 6ID served as chairman of the Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, the ceasefire mechanism panel formed in the peace talks with the Moro National Liberation Front for about a year. He was the chairman during the Mamasapano bloodbath in January 2015 that killed 44 elite policemen.

The police forces engaged with the MILF and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters when they took down top Malaysian terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir alias Marwan.

Galvez served as deputy chief for operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines from October last year. He was previously the deputy commander of the Western Mindanao Command and the commander of the 104th Brigade in Basilan.

Army spokesperson Col. Benjamin Hao described Galvez as a “peace builder” and his role was also crucial in helping to prevent the Mamasapano incident from further escalating. IDL/rga