FORMER Army Scout Ranger commander Brig. Gen. Felix Brawner Jr., a loyalist of former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, has died at the age of 88, the Philippine announced yesterday.
Army spokesman Col. Xerxes Trinidad said Brawner “died peacefully in his sleep” last November 16 and is due to be interred at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City on Tuesday.
“The Philippine Army troops bid farewell to the late retired Brig. Gen. Felix Brawner Jr. who defied the reign of communist rebels and restored peace during his stint as a former Scout Ranger commander,” said Trinidad.
Trinidad said Brawner “was one of the generals who remained loyal and stayed by the side of former President E. Marcos Sr” during the February 1986 that ousted the latter.
“He also advised the executive leadership that there should not be any bloodshed, which was contrary to the advice of other generals who wanted to attack the civilians in Epifanio de los Santos Avenue (Edsa),” added Trinidad, recalling events during the 1986 revolution.
Brawner was the commander of the First Scout Ranger Regiment and concurrent AFP deputy chief of staff for operations at the time.
Trinidad said Brawner “was being groomed to be the next (AFP) Chief of Staff after Gen. Fabian Ver.” Ver served as AFP chief under Marcos, the father of President Marcos Jr.
Brawner is a member of the Philippine Military Academy class of 1957 where he graduated at the top of his class.
His only son, Felix Brawner III of the PMA class 1984, died in a landmine explosion during an operation against New People’s Army rebels in 1988.
Brawner is an uncle of Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. — a son of Brawner’s brother, former Court of Appeals presiding justice and former Commission on Elections commissioner Romeo Brawner Sr.
