Gilbert Gapay replaces Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto who will retire on Friday. #GilbertGapay #PhilippineArmy

Lt..Gen. Gilbert Gapay is the former commander of SoLCom.

President Rodrigo Duterte has appointed Southern Luzon Command (SoLCom) chief, Lt..Gen. Gilbert Gapay, as the new Philippine Army chief.

Gapay, the 34th SoLCom commander, will replace his mistah at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) “Sinagtala” Class of 1986, the outgoing Lt. Gen. Macairog Alberto, who is set to retire from the military service on 6 December 2019, at the age of 56.

The President’s appointment of Gapay was based on the letter-endorsement sent by Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana in accordance with the recommendation of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief of Staff and Chairman of the AFP Board of Generals, General Noel Clement, pursuant to Republic Act 8186, as amended.

The turnover ceremony is set to on Friday, 6 December 2019, at 4 p.m. at the Army Clubhouse Headquarters in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City.

Commissioned on 22 March 1986, Gapay graduated top of his class at the PMA.

In the 33 years of active service, Gapay has held various command and staff positions as he rose in the ladder of AFP leadership. His character and competence has earned him the respect and admiration of his superiors, peers and subordinates.

Gapay has been described in his Summary of Information as a seasoned combat officer for commanding various army units as he confronted different internal security threats such as CPP-NPA, Muslim secessionists and other local terrorist groups.

After battling the CPP-NPA during the height of insurgency in Agusan provinces in 1988 and capturing the MILF stronghold, Camp Abubakar on September 2000, he formulated the “Bayanihan Operations Concept” as an alternative approach to insurgency.

It successfully resulted to one priority CPP-NPA guerilla front dismantled and another guerilla front downgraded in Central Luzon. It evolved into a conflict resolution strategy adopted by the AFP in addressing various internal threat groups.

As commander of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade in the Lanao provinces, he also paved the way for the passage of the Bangsamoro Organic Law and for Lanao del Norte to be declared as an insurgency-free province.

In December 2016, he became the Deputy Commander of Eastern Mindanao Command and concurrent commander of Joint Task Force Haribon, the counter terrorist force created to secure Mega Davao after the Roxas night market bombing.

He was able to assist the commander, EastMinCom in degrading the armed capability of the Southern Mindanao Regional Committee (SMRC) of the CPP-NPA and neutralize terrorist leaders and members of Ansar al Khilafah Pilipinas (AKP) operating in Sarangani province.

Gapay was also responsible in the successful launching of the Philippine chairmanship of the ASEAN in Davao City and the successful conduct of high-level ASEAN meetings and major international events. Noteworthy was the “zero incident” of terrorism during his tenure.

In December 2017, Gapay was designated as commander of the Mechanized Infantry Division. He championed the development of armor, aviation, air defense, and cyber security capabilities of the Philippine Army. Various modernization projects were approved by the Department of National Defense such as the acquisition of light tanks, wheeled armor personnel carriers, mortar carriers and upgrading of mounted weapons systems.

In January 2019, Gapay became the commander of SoLCom. Under his command, SoLCom significantly reduced the CPP-NPA’s armed capability; neutralized key CTG leaders at national, regional and front committee levels; and, greatly reduced incidence of NPA atrocities in the area.

The relentless internal security operations of SoLCom also resulted to the influx of NPA surrenderers in Southern Luzon.

Additionally, he spearheaded the operationalization of Executive Order number 70 through the activation of the Regional Task Forces to End Local Communist Armed Conflict in the three regions in Southern Luzon.