Lacson says proud of his ‘legacy legis’

THE Department of National Defense (DND) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) on Tuesday welcomed President Duterte’s signing into law of Republic Act 11709 that prescribed three-year fixed terms for officials holding key positions in the military hierarchy.

“The principal objective of this law is to allow general officers sufficient time, i.e., three years timein-grade, to do their jobs. If they are not promoted to the next higher grade, they are retired,” Defense Secretary Delfin N. Lorenzana said in a news statement.

Principally sponsored by Senator Panfilo Lacson as co-author of the enabling bill, he affirmed, “This will now ensure implementation of merit-based promotions and attrition systems that will assure the AFP of a continuous pool of qualified and effective leaders.”

Lacson assured that “finally, we will see an end to the revolving-door policy in the AFP,” stressing that the AFP leadership will now “have the opportunity to implement their legacy programs instead of staying in office too briefly.”

Lorenzana added: “This ensures that only the best officers ascend the ladder of leadership. This also puts an end to the revolving-door system in the AFP leadership that resulted from the retirement law passed in 1979.”

The defense chief has supported the law even during its initiation as a bill in Congress, whose main purpose was to stop the revolvingdoor policy wherein commanders are appointed to top military positions although they were merely have months in service.

Lorenzana said the law would also limit the number of star-rank officers in the military, which he said earlier have been “too many.”

“RA 11709 also limits the number of general officers to 0.01 per centum of the AFP’S total strength and will reduce the number of its general officers from the present 196 to 153, which we believe is the optimal number of generals to efficiently and competently lead the AFP,” he said.

“We thank President Duterte for signing it into law RA 11709, which caps his vision and programs—higher pay, more troops, more brand new equipment, and improved health services—for a better and professional AFP that he implemented during his term,” the defense chief said.

Meanwhile, the military said the new law would usher “stability” in the organization as it continues to fulfill its mandate as “protectors of the people and the State.”

“This shall make the AFP a more efficient and effective organization and will contribute to the realization of our vision of a more credible Armed Forces which is a source of national pride,” military spokesman Col. Ramon Zagala said.

Those covered by the three-year fixed terms were the AFP Chief of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, The Inspector General, the Chiefs of Area Commands and the Chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

The law also capped for four years the term of the superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy.