Defense officials to heed call for unity, no loyalty check among ranks
Newly appointed Defense Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. ordered ranking officials who offered to resign following the abrupt departure of his predecessor to stay put as he called on officials of his department to remain united.
Galvez issued the directive as at least nine top DND officials submitted their courtesy resignations after former Defense acting chief Jose Faustino Jr. quit his post.
DND Undersecretary for Capability Assessment and Development Angelito de Leon said all senior officials have decided to stay on.
“We all agreed that we stay, the senior leaders and assistant secretaries,” De Leon said in a press briefing shortly after the traditional New Year’s Call held at the AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
“In the case of Secretary Galvez, while we are ready with our courtesy resignation in accordance with customs, there is nothing extraordinary about it. He immediately gave the order, everybody stays put and hence nobody would resign or get out of DND, as manifested, we are intact,” he added.
De Leon also said that there is no need for a loyalty check in the DND or the AFP, where AFP chief of staff Gen. Andres Centino replaced Lt. Gen. Bartolome Vicente Bacarro on Jan. 6.
“There is no need for a loyalty check. The AFP remains steadfast and loyal to the Constitution, the flag, and the duly constituted authorities,” De Leon said.
Galvez, for his part, emphasized the importance of employee morale in the department and professionalism in the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
During a transition briefing Tuesday, Galvez was presented with a report highlighting the department’s plans, as well as the 10-point agenda initiated by Faustino.
Faustino earlier said he quit after he was kept in the dark about the appointment of Centino.
Galvez also met with senior officials and heads of bureaus and held a discussion with members of the executive committee.
Meanwhile, a command conference set on Thursday will be presided over by Galvez and Centino.
During the AFP New Year’s Call that was held jointly with the DND, Centino led the traditional toast and enjoined every officer, enlisted personnel, and civilian human resource professional to be unified in embodying only the highest standards of excellence across all of the AFP’s mission areas.
“The new leadership in the AFP and the DND shall represent a renewed commitment to unity. In ensuring the cohesiveness and professionalism of our institutions while serving as role models to the subordinates following us, we fortify the relationship of our soldiers to their units and enhance the formidable foundation upon which the legacy of the AFP is built upon,” he said.
Also on Wednesday, Basilan Rep. Mujiv Hataman welcomed the appointment of Galvez, who used to be the presidential adviser on the peace process.
“We believe that the solid and long experience of Secretary Galvez on peace matters will be of great help in the pursuit of his new task, mandate and responsibility,” Hataman said in a statement.
Hataman also vouched for the new DND chief even as he recalled working with Galvez “to fight for, and maintain, peace in the Bangsamoro region,” specifically during the stint of Hataman as the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor.
He said Galvez was instrumental in the peace that BARMM and the whole of Mindanao is now enjoying.
He described Galvez as “a fine soldier who knows that the key to achieve peace is neither by the use of strong force nor through violence, but by genuine cooperation between communities and local government units.”