CEBU CITY — Officers and soldiers of the Central Command (Centcom) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines were jubilant as they welcomed the promotion of their commander to the next higher rank on Thursday.
Maj. Abel Potutan, acting head of Centcom’s Civil Military Operations Office, told the Philippine News Agency that Centcom commander Noel Clement is now a Lieutenant General.
This, after AFP Chief of Staff General Benjamin Madrigal donned on Thursday the rank of three-star general to Clement at the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.
Clement took the helm of Centcom last November 22 in a turn-over ceremony at the Centcom Bondad Hall in Camp Lapu-Lapu in Lahug this city, replacing Lt. Gen. Paul Talay Atal.
Atal is now the current AFP Inspector General based in the AFP General Headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo.
Prior to his Centcom assignment, Clement was the chief of the Philippine Army’s 10th Infantry Division which has jurisdiction over Davao Region, where he was cited for his significant accomplishments, including “degrading of the New People’s Army’s (NPA) capability and support structure”.
The newly-promoted general attributed the success of his leadership to the excellent working relationship among the soldiers, local officials, other stakeholders, and the community in his unit’s area of responsibility.
“All can be attributed to the excellent working relationship between 10ID units, local government units, stakeholders and people in the area of responsibility,” he said.
The Army division claimed it managed to reduce the number of NPA guerilla fronts from 11 to four under Clement’s leadership.
