Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Maj. Gen. Eduardo Año will assume on Wednesday (July 15) the post of commanding general of the Philippine Army.
He will take over the post vacated by Lt. Gen. Hernando Iriberri who was appointed as the new Armed Forces chief last week.
Related: Lt. Gen. Iriberri is new AFP chief
A member of the Philippine Military Academy Matikas Class of 1983, Año’s classmates include Iriberri and other contenders to the Army post — Lt. Gen. Ricardo Visaya and Maj. Gen. Glorioso Miranda. He graduated cum laude.
Prior to his appointment as the new Army chief, Año was the commanding general of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, based in Davao.
His unit led the operations against one of the ranking leaders of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao, Leoncio Pitao also known as Kumander Parago.
His stint as the chief of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) also yielded remarkable accomplishments. These included the arrest of the NPA’s most powerful couple, Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, and retired Army general Jovito Palparan, who was linked to several human rights cases.
But Año’s record was also tarnished when he was implicated in the abduction of missing activist Jonas Burgos. The Justice department, however, has dismissed the case against him.
