Ibrado named Army chief

The Philippine Star

President Arroyo has chosen Lt. Gen. Victor Ibrado as Army commander to replace Lt. Gen. Alexander Yano, who will take over as Armed Forces chief when Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. retires from military service on May 9, a reliable source said yesterday.

Ibrado is presently Armed Forces Central Command chief.

The highly-placed military source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told The STAR Mrs. Arroyo picked Ibrado based on the recommendation of the Board of Generals.

"The BOG submitted three names and the President chose Ibrado as the next army chief," the source said.

The source said Mrs. Arroyo chose Ibrado from among two other candidates: Lieutenant Generals Rodrigo Maclang and Cardozo Luna, whose names the BOG had submitted to Malacañang last week.

Maclang heads the Northern Luzon Command, while Luna is chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

Ibrado and Maclang were classmates in Philippine Military Academy Class of 1976, while Luna graduated a year before them.

After his graduation, Ibrado joined the Army Special Forces. He served as operations and training officer of the Presidential Security Group, chief of the Army’s 11th Infantry Battalion in the Visayas, and commander of the Army’s Intelligence and Security Group. - James Mananghaya