By FROILAN GALLARDO
Special Correspondent
A Marawi siege veteran will assume command of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division (4ID), the unit mostly responsible for the counter communist insurgency in Northern Mindanao.
Major Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr., will assume command on Monday, July 5, in the 4ID headquarters at the Alcoseba Hall in Camp Edilberto Evangelista, Cagayan de Oro City.
Brawner will replace Major Gen. Andres Centino who has assumed the command of the Philippine Army.
“Only a few are invited and even the media presence is limited,” 4ID spokesperson Major Rodulfo Cordero Jr., said.
Cordero said this is in line with the anti-Covid-19 protocols being practiced in Camp Edilberto Evangelista in the wake of coronavirus infections in Cagayan de Oro.
Cagayan de Oro is placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, the second strictest government quarantine measure because of a spike of Covid-19 cases.
Cordero said Armed Forces of the Philippines General Cerilito Sobejana will preside the turnover ceremonies on Monday.
Brawner used to be the spokesperson and deputy commander of the military task force Ranao fighting the Maute militants who took control of Marawi City in 2017.
He later took over the command of the Army 103rd Infantry Brigade based in Marawi as the military launched operations to flush out the remaining Maute fighters.
A member of the Philippine Military Academy Makatao” Class 1989, Brawner became the Commandant of Cadets in the country’s premier military school after it was wracked with a hazing scandal in 2019.
Brawner then became the AFP deputy Chief of Staff for Financial Management until he was named to command the 4ID.
He hails from Kiangan, Ifugao province.
