Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Senior military officials are confident that new Navy chief Rear Adm. Caesar Taccad will lead the organization well, as he is known to be a professional and hardworking soldier.
Related: Taccad is next Flag-Officer-In-Command of the Philippine Navy
Taccad replaced his Philippine Military Academy 1982 classmate Vice Adm. Jesus Millan during the Navy’s change of command ceremony this afternoon (August 10), where President Benigno Aquino III was the guest of honor.
Col. Edgard Arevalo, Navy spokesperson, said the incoming Navy chief can transform the organization into a more capable force, because of Taccad’s experience as vice commander and head of the Navy’s modernization board.
The Navy — and the Armed Forces as a whole — face the major challenge of protecting the country’s territorial waters, especially amid overlapping claims in the West Philippine Sea.
Arevalo said that efforts to improve the navy’s capability are in place.
He noted that two landing crafts donated by Australia arrived in the country last week. Under the 2016 proposed budget, the Navy is slated to acquire two frigates.
CNN Philippines’ Gerg Cahiles contributed to this report.
