Faustino or Gacal as next EastMinCom commander

THE COMMANDERS of the 10th Infantry Division and 4th Infantry Division were floated as the possible candidates to lead the Eastern Mindanao Command.

Their names were endorsed by AFP Chief of Staff Felimon Santos.

Maj. Gen. Jose Faustino Jr. of the PMA “Sinagtala” Class of 1986 is the commander of 10th ID based in Camp Manuel T. Yan Sr., Barangay Tuboran, Mawab, Davao de Oro, who assumed command last December 2018.

Maj. Gen. Nemesio Franco Gacal of the PMA “Maringal” class of 1988 is the commander of the 4th ID, based in Cagayan de Oro city.

In a text message on Wednesday night, Santos said he recommended the two division commanders but “there is no approval on our recommendation yet.” The papers were submitted to Malacañang for review.

Santos replaced Gen. Noel Clement who has reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 in a change of command ceremony held at AFP general headquarters in Camp Emilio Aguinaldo last Saturday.

Lt. Col. Ezra Balagtey, the EastMinCom spokes

person, said Brig. Gen. Alfredo Rosario, the deputy commander, is the officerin-charge until a new commander is named.

“There will be change of command but no schedule yet, “Balagtey said.