Lieutenant General Romeo Brawner have been appointed as the next Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), succeeding General Andres Centino, Malacañang announced on Wednesday.
Centino will be named as the President's West Philippine Sea Adviser.
Lt. Gen. Brawner is now the Commanding General of the Philippine Army, a position he will hold until December 10, 2021.
He graduated second in his class at the Philippine Military Academy "Makatao" in 1989 and has since served in the military in various positions for the past 34 years.
Lt. Gen. Brawner formerly served as the Commandant of Cadets at the Philippine Military Academy, where he was instrumental in eliminating hazing and maltreatment in the Cadet Corps.
He then served as the Armed Forces of the Philippines' first Deputy Chief of Staff for Financial Management, J10.
Brawner was also the Commander of the 4th Infantry "Diamond" Division, where he oversaw combat operations that ended in the decisive neutralization of Jorge Madlos, or "Ka Oris," the Commander of the New People's Army's National Operations Command.
He excelled in his military education, topping his courses in the Special Forces Operations Course, the Intelligence Officer Course, and the AFP Comptrollership Course.
LtGen Brawner holds three (3) Master's degrees: one in Information Management from Ateneo de Manila University, one in Business Administration from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, and one in Strategic Studies from the United States Army War College (USAWC).
Among the numerous awards and recognitions he received were the Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS) award in 2013 from the Metrobank Foundation and the Rotary Club of Makati, as well as the Lapu-Lapu Award from President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for his valuable contributions in the neutralization of Abu Dar, the last of the original leaders of the Maute-ISIS faction.
