President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. defended the reappointment of Gen. Andres Centino as chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), saying that it is a way of fixing seniority issues inside the country's military organization.
"We are rationalizing seniority. Andy Centino has four stars and Bob Bacarro had three stars," said Marcos, who had just arrived in Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
"So we need to fix that because it will create trouble in the bottom ranks," he added.
Earlier this month, Marcos reappointed Centino, replacing Lt. Gen. Bartolome Bacarro who only headed AFP for five months.
Centino isn't new to the job as he previously served as AFP chief from Nov. 12, 2021, to Aug. 8, 2022.
The appointment of Centino back as AFP chief prompted Defense officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. to resign, saying he was not formally informed about the matter. He has since been replaced by presidential peace adviser Carlito Galvez Jr.
