President Rodrigo Roa Duterte shakes hands with Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eduardo Año. PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Eduardo Año was made to leave his military post a few months ahead of his mandatory retirement so that he could smoothly move on to his next job as head of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Malacañang said on Saturday.
But presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella also said no replacement had been lined up yet for Año.
The early retirement “is to pave the way for a smooth transition to his formal assumption as the incoming secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government,” Abella said in a statement.
Año will assume the post on June 2, as directed by President Duterte, who turned down Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana’s request to extend the tour of the chief of staff.
As for Año’s successor, Abella said Malacañang was waiting for recommendations from the military.
He said the AFP Board of Generals had yet to submit a shortlist of candidates to the President.
As DILG chief, Año will have supervision over the Philippine National Police, which is at the forefront of Mr. Duterte’s controversial war against illegal drugs, blamed for the deaths of thousands of drug suspects.
The President and his allies have denied that the extrajudicial killings were state-sponsored.
In a speech before gun dealers on Friday, Mr. Duterte said he would also direct Año to ensure that no firearms would land in the hands of enemies of the state.
In announcing Año’s appointment to the DILG, the President said he had a problem with the police and expressed dismay at the activities of police officers who had been linked to crimes.
Año has said that he would make sure to follow the rule of law in the drug war and would focus on running after the syndicates that supply the illegal substances.