Año retires, to head DILG after one year
The military chief credited for liberating Marawi from the clutches of Maute terrorists has been named head of the department that has jurisdiction over the police.
Gen. Eduardo Año received his new appointment as secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) upon his retirement yesterday as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) President Duterte announced his appointment of Año to the DILG at the turnover ceremonies for new AFP chief Lt. Gen. Leonardo Guerrero at Camp Aguinaldo.
But Año’s actual assumption of the top DILG post can only happen after a year from the date of his retirement in accordance with law, Duterte said.
Duterte’s marching orders to the new AFP chief is to destroy all weapons left in the battle zones of Marawi.
The Chief Executive lauded Año for his achievements in his more than three-decade stint in the military.
“He would head the Department of the Interior and Local Government. But while he is prohibited from assuming the task for one year – and that is the law, from the military service to the civilian sector, you have to wait for one year,” Duterte said.
“Either he takes the title of Special Assistant to the President or undersecretary, whichever is tenable legally. And he will now supervise the Philippine National Police, together with (DILG officer-in-charge) general (Catalino) Cuy,” he added.
“General Año’s distinguished leadership resulted in a stronger AFP that did not just secure our nation, but also secured our people’s trust and confidence in the military establishment and the soldiers that it represents,” the President said.
The DILG has direct supervision over the Philippine National Police (PNP), which was recently pulled out of the war on illegal drugs following reports of gross abuses that included the execution of teenagers.
Año will also have jurisdiction over the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, which runs city and town jails that are currently crowded with suspects detained in the war on drugs.
Duterte said the liberation of Marawi was the “crowning jewel” of Año’s career.
“As General Año leaves behind this legacy and marches towards his final review of our troops, I am confident that the AFP will sustain its gains because of the organizational and capability upgrades initiated during his tenure,” the President stressed.
Duterte said the upgrades include the acquisition of new air and sea assets, state-ofthe-art communications and the intelligencegathering equipment and the latest military hardware.
He ordered the newly installed AFP chief to oversee the destruction of firearms seized in Marawi, recently liberated from Islamic State-linked terrorists Abu Sayyaf and Maute group.
“I will now request the Chief of Staff General Guerrero to supervise the destruction of all arms, whether highpowered or hand guns, all of it will be destroyed in some place to show that we are also able to meet the challenges of terrorism and violence,” Duterte said.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the President was referring to the close to 1,000 firearms recovered in Marawi. He said the directive would ensure that the firearms would not return to rebels and criminals.
“Sometimes, if you keep the firearms in the armory, they end up going back to the streets and to the criminals. We might as well destroy them,” Lorenzana said in a chance interview.
He said the military would also destroy the more than 2,000 firearms recovered in more than 800 clashes with various armed groups.
The destruction of the terrorists’ firearms was Duterte’s first instruction to Guerrero as the new chief of the 125,000-strong armed forces.
Guerrero was a graduate of Philippine Military Academy class of 1984 and a former Eastern Mindanao Command chief.
Guerrero will only serve as military chief for less than two months since he will reach the mandatory retirement age of 56 in December.
Lorenzana said the President has the prerogative to extend the term of the military chief.
“We have martial law. That is a good reason for the President to extend (the term of) whoever is the chief of staff,” the defense chief said.
Lorenzana said he could not speculate if Duterte would extend Guerrero’s stint as armed forces chief.
When asked if he is in favor of extending Guerrero’s tour of duty, Lorenzana said: “Yes. What can General Guerrero do in two months? Perhaps his tour of duty can be extended so he can perform his duty.”
“He just assumed, why immediately discuss the extension?” National Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon Jr., himself a former AFP chief under then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo, said when asked if Guerrero’s term would be extended.