By Nancy Carvajal
Resigned Department of National Defense (DND) officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. apparently ordered the compulsory retirement of Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro as Armed Forces Chief of Staff, contrary to his claim that he was clueless about his mistah’s exit from the military.
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A document seen by Politiko dated January 6, 2023 cited Republic Act 11709 or the law mandating a fixed three-year tour of duty for the AFP chief of staff as basis for Bacarro’s compulsory retirement.
“Therefor LIEUTENANT GENERAL BARTOLOME VICENTE O. BACARRO O-9864 PHILIPPINE ARMY, having completed 38 years, nine (9) months and 6 days of active military service in the Armed Forces of the Philippines from 01 April 1984 to 07 January 2023, is compulsorily retired in the rank of LIEUTENANT GENERAL with retirement pay based on the salary grade of GENERAL with fifth (5th) longevity pay effective 07 January 2023,” a portion of the document read.
The document was marked as “RESTRICTED” and classified as general order number 13. The compulsory retirement, according to the paper, was made “BY ORDER OF THE SECRETARY OF NATIONAL DEFENSE.”
Captain Ramilo B. Trinidad, as acting Adjutant General, signed the document.
Faustino claimed he only learned that Bacarro will be replaced as AFP chief by General Andres Centino through social media and news reports. The three all belong to the Philippine Military Academy Marilag Class of 1988.
It was President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. who appointed Bacarro to replace Centino in August last year, even if the latter had not yet reached the mandatory retirement age of 56 years old.
Centino would’ve benefited from RA 11709, one of the last laws signed by former President Rodrigo Duterte, had Bacarro not been appointed by Marcos.
The appointment of Bacarro, a three-star general, as AFP chief complicated the situation in the military since there should only be one four-star general at a given time, who happens to be Centino.
Marcos offered Centino the post of ambassador to India and Nepal but he refused.
Centino formally assumed the leadership of the AFP again on January 6, a day before Bacarro’s official retirement as armed forces chief.
Faustino, meanwhile, resigned from his post due to his supposed cluelessness about Centino’s appointment.
