OUTGOING Armed Forces chief Gen. Andres Centino yesterday said President Marcos Jr. wanted more focus on addressing issues in the West Philippine Sea in the South China, which led to the creation of the Office of the Presidential Adviser of the West Philippine Sea (WPS).
Centino has been named head of the new office, triggering a change in the leadership of the Armed Forces which will now be headed by Army chief Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner.
Centino is set to turn over the top military post to Brawner today. President Marcos Jr is scheduled to preside over the turnover rites.
Centino and Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr said there is yet no decision as to who is going to succeed Brawner as Army chief.
Teodoro said the President “decided to have a presidential adviser with a Cabinet stature” to stress the importance of the WPS “and the dynamic of the events which occur there on a daily basis.”
The President on Wednesday night said the need for a strong and smart strategy amid geopolitical tensions were the reasons he decided to designate Centino and Brawner to their new posts.
Marcos said he is banking on the experience, loyalty and commitment to service of Brawner and Centino to protect Filipinos and the country’s sovereignty.
“Malakas na depensa at matalinong estratehiya sa gitna ng mga tensyong geopolitical ang ating kinakailangan. Kaya naman itinalaga nating chief of Staff ng Armed Forces of the Philippines si Lt. Gen. Romeo Brawner at Presidential Adviser on the West Philippine Sea naman si Gen. Andres Centino (Strong defense and smart strategy amid geopolitical tension are what we need. That is why we designated Lt Gen Romeo Brawner as chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and Gen. Andres Centino as presidential adviser on the West Philippine Sea),” he said in a social media post on Wednesday night after the Presidential Communications Office announced the new appointments.
Centino said there is a need to focus on issues in the WPS.
“Our leadership has deemed it important to give focus and importance, the way we address the issues there, in a bigger scale. That’s why they thought of creating an office of the presidential adviser (on the West Philippine Sea),” he said.
INCURSIONS
Asked what are the specific issues the government wants to address in the WPS, Centino said “reports of incursions.”
“In the past months, we had incidents there. Perhaps, if addressed properly, these could have been avoided,” said Centino, referring to near collision of Chinese and Philippine ships in the area.
He said there are “geopolitical issues that have to be addressed more appropriately,” thus the creation of the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the West Philippine Sea.
“What is clear is that there should be more focus on how we handle or address the problems there (in the West Philippine Sea),” said Centino.
As to the delineation of functions between his office and the National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, Centino said that will be part of discussions.
“There will be more focus (in addressing issues in the West Philippine Sea). As what I have mentioned earlier, there were incidents that happened in the past months and perhaps, if these were addressed more appropriately, these incidents should have been avoided,” said Centino.
Centino said such issues should be addressed by “mix of everything,” meaning not only militarily but by various agencies of the government.
Centino said recent cases of Chinese harassment in the West Philippine Sea is a “concern that would have an impact on us if not addressed or not attended to.”
Centino said he sees his new job as “challenging.” Nevertheless, he said he is well aware of the issue in the West Philippine given his knowledge as AFP chief.
Centino first assumed as AFP chief in November 2021 and served until August last year when he was replaced by Gen. Bartolome Bacarro. Last January, Centino was re-designated as AFP last January, vice Bacarro.
Like Bacarro, Centino was supposed to serve for three years under a law that was signed by President Duterte last year. However, the President has the prerogative to cut short the AFP chief’s term.
Centino said he is well aware that his tenure is subject to the prerogative of the President.
XI-DUTERTE MEETING
Teodoro, asked if former President Duterte’s recent meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping is a cause of concern, said: “We need to know first what they discussed before judging if it’s a cause of concern or not.”
Teodoro said he was expecting Duterte pushed the interest of the Philippines during his meeting with the Chinese leader.
Asked if the DND will be coordinating with Duterte to determine what the latter discussed with Xi, Teodoro said: “It’s not our job to coordinate with former President Duterte.”
On how is he going to determine what Duterte and Xi discussed, Teodoro suggested that media interview Duterte.
Teodoro also said the government is preparing contingencies in connection with a potential conflict between China and Taiwan.
“First and foremost, we really have to make an assessment whether such is likely or not.
Nonetheless we continue to plan on all contingencies not merely any flashpoint between China and Taiwan,” he said.
He said the government has to plan a contingency “within the theater and it’s a multi-agency effort not only the defense effort.”
“That (China-Taiwan tension) is a thing that we continue to monitor daily and hopefully the engagements, bilaterally between the United States and China, lead to the diffusion of tensions in that theater,” said Teodoro.
“We are preparing contingences and I cannot, I’m not at liberty to specify what those are,” he also said.
Of the five US treaty allies in the Indo-Pacific — Australia, South Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Thailand — the Philippines is closest to Taiwan, with its northernmost islands just 190 km (118 miles) away.
A priority for the Philippines is the safety of the more than 100,000 of its nationals living and working in Taiwan.
The Philippines has been a key defense partner for former colonial power the United States for decades, but moves this year to expand US access to its bases have angered China, which has called that “stoking the fire” of regional tension.
The Philippines has granted access to four additional bases this year, some facing north towards Taiwan. The Philippines has repeatedly stressed it is not taking sides in the US-China rivalry.
Marcos, who has sought closer ties with Washington, has said the US access to those bases would be “useful ”defensively if China attacked democratically governed Taiwan.
Washington and Beijing have sought to manage their differences lately to get strained ties on the right track, including keeping communication channels open. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Reuters
