Search is on for Iriberri successor as Army chief

After appointing Lt. Gen. Hernando Iriberri as the new Armed Forces of the Philippines chief, President Benigno Aquino III will have to find a new Army commanding general to replace him.

Rumored to be front-runners for the post are Southern Luzon Command head Maj. Gen. Ricardo Visaya, and Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año, commander of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

Like Iriberri, Visaya and Año are members of the Philippine Military Academy Class 1983.

Visaya and Año are also known for their achievements in the military’s counterinsurgency campaigns that have brought down top leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and New People’s Army (NPA).

Visaya, who was among the contenders for AFP chief, is known for his exploits against NPA rebels, especially in Central Luzon.

He is probably best remembered as the commander of the 69th Infantry Battalion when the so-called Hacienda Luisita massacre took place in 2004. Seven farmhands were killed in the violent dispersal of striking workers at the sugar plantation owned by President Aquino’s family.

The President was then a district representative of Tarlac province.

Murder complaints were filed against Mr. Aquino and Visaya, among others, for the workers’ deaths. But the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed the complaint.

Año is known for dealing what have perhaps been the biggest blows to the communists. He was the chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) when a combined military and police operation arrested CPP leaders Benito and Wilma Tiamzon in March 2014.

Last week, legendary NPA leader Leoncio Pitao, known as Ka Parago, was killed in an encounter with soldiers from the 10th Infantry Division in Paquibato, Davao City.

Parago’s death was mourned by many of his comrades. The NPA even put out a full-page newspaper ad extolling his virtues and contributions to the communist rebel cause.

Año has also been linked to the 2007 disappearance of activist Jonas Burgos, the son of the late press freedom icon Jose Burgos. Año has denied the allegation.