New Southcom chief named

Lt. Gen. Edilberto Adan was named yesterday acting Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) chief by the military high command as approved by Malacañang.

Camp Aguinaldo sources said Adan’s appointment was temporary. However, some insiders said he would stay at his post until his retirement in January next year.

Armed Forces public information chief Lt. Col. Buenaventura Pascual was at a loss to explain Adan’s surprise appointment.

Prior to announcing Adan’s posting as Southcom chief, Pascual said Maj. Gen. Samuel Bagasin, Army 4th Infantry Division commander based in Cagayan de Oro City, Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, Army 1st Infantry Division commander, and several other senior officials, including Army 6th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Agustin Dema-ala, had been "short-listed" by the Board of Generals to replace Lt. Gen. Alberto Braganza.

Assignments to top military posts are recommended by the Board of Generals to Malacañang for approval.

But sources said that until the eve of Braganza’s retirement, the board had recommended only Bagasin, and that the military was just awaiting Mrs. Arroyo’s approval.

Adan’s appointment came as a surprise to most senior military officials, who, since last week, had been verbally notified that Bagasin would be replacing Braganza, who retired yesterday on reaching the mandatory retirement age of 56.

Most of Bagasin’s family members and a number of relatives — some coming all the way from the United States — were already in Zamboanga City to witness his assumption of the command of the largest unified military unit in the country.

Before moving to Southcom, Adan was the Armed Forces deputy vice chief of staff.

His post will be taken over, in a temporary capacity, by Armed Forces vice chief of staff Vice Admiral Ariston delos Reyes until his replacement has been selected.

Military insiders claimed that Bagasin had the top Southcom post in the bag until Habacon lobbied intensely for his appointment as Southcom chief at the last minute.

However, Habacon, who was mentioned in the controversial "Hello, Garci" audiotapes, denied lobbying for the Southcom post.

"I don’t know anything about that," he said in a separate phone interview. "That is the prerogative of the Commander-in-Chief."

Armed Forces chief Lt. Gen. Generoso Senga was unavailable for comment.

Based in Zamboanga City, the Southcom is the biggest of the five unified military commands. It is at the forefront of the fight against the Abu Sayyaf and secessionist rebels in Mindanao.

Another senior officer mentioned in the alleged wiretapped phone calls of Arroyo and former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, assumed the post of Army commander in August.

Aside from Habacon and Esperon, also mentioned in the tapes were retired Southcom chief general Roy Kyamko and Philippine Military Academy deputy superintendent Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani.

All four military officers have denied involvement in vote-rigging in separate statements before the Armed Forces inspector general, which was tasked to investigate the military’s alleged involvement in election fraud.