ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 4, 2013) – A decorated marine commander whose brilliant career made him one of the best in the Philippine military has been named as the next chief of the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City in southern Philippines.
Lieutenant General Rustico Guerrero, commander of the Western Command headquarters in Palawan province, is set to take over Lieutenant General Rey Ardo who is retiring this week.
Ardo was the military commander when hundreds of separatist rebels simultaneous attacked Zamboanga City in September. More than 400 people were killed and wounded in three weeks of street battles that also resulted in a humanitarian crisis.
A graduate of the Philippine Military Academy in 1981, Guerrero served as military chief in Basilan and Sulu provinces and later commandant of the Philippine Marine Corps and one of the most respected military leaders today.
He finished his Masters of Military Study and Command and Staff College in Marine Corps University in Virginia in the United States and also took up Foreign Officers Tactical Intelligence Course in Queensland in Australia, among others.
Local journalists also welcomed the assumption of Guerrero as new commander of the Western Mindanao Command headquarters as he is known to be “media-friendly” and is easily accessible to reporters unlike his predecessors and other previous commanders and spokesmen who hid news reports from the media in an effort to picture a peaceful Mindanao. (Mindanao Examiner)
20