Philippine new military chief assumes post

Philippine President Benigno S. Aquino III has named incumbent Army commander as the new chief of staff of the 140,000-strong Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Outgoing military chief General Gregorio Pio Catapang turned over the post to Lieutenant General Hernando Delfin Carmelo Iriberri, 55, on Friday during a ceremony at AFP headquarters in Quezon City, Metro Manila.

Catapang retired from the military service on his 56th birthday, the mandatory retirement age of men in uniform.

Iriberri, member of the Philippine Military Academy Class of 1983, is the 46th AFP chief.

Aquino, in his message during the turnover ceremony, ordered Iriberri to continue the reforms that Catapang has pursued in the military.

With the upcoming elections next year, he said that part of Iriberri's work is to ensure peaceful and clean polls. Endi